Foragers
by MrsCuddlyFox
Summary: A spin-off of the Warriors series, Foragers is a story about a young forest mouse named Mulberry. The night before his shadow ceremony, he dreams of a terrifying creature, one with eyes that glow of amber and teeth that glisten in the moonlight. A creature no one thinks is real, a figment of his imagination his mother says. But soon, the forest will change forever, when they come..
1. Characters

This character list took me over two hours to make, so no new chapter today more than likely. But hopefully this helps you all, I know it is certainly helpful for me! I want to thank you all for the name suggestions, it was a huge help. This is a work in progress, I will update it from time to time. I will try to pin this to the beginning of the story if I can and keep it current as new characters are mentioned in the story.

MapleleafOfThunderClan thank you so much for your comment! It's wonderful to have another reader, and I love your character submission! I'm probably going to have her as one of, yes - one of - Mulberry's love interests. He's helplessly lost when it comes to the ladies, as you guys will all see soon enough!

* * *

 **Elder Mice**

 **Root:** Very old, with a strong voice. The peacekeeping leader.

 **Clover:** Female. Old, but with a delicate beauty. Silver fur. Motherly. The mother leader.

 **Talon:** Male. The youngest of the elders, but still greying. Dark black pelt with silver hairs, scars across his body from an owl attack. The warrior leader.

* * *

 **Healer**

 **Juniper:** Female. Pale blue-grey fur and cloudy blind eyes. Very old, has an excellent sense of smell.

 **Foragers**

 **Clay:** Male. Older, with rugged dark brown pelt and a broken tail. Current shadow: Peanut.

 **Moss:** Female. Young, with a small figure and pale tan fur. Currently nursing five nestlings: Petal, Dusk, Bramble, Tulip, and Scratch.

 **Aspen:** Male. Young, with a handsome face and white and black mottled fur. Current shadow: Flick.

 **Liken:** Male. Young, with a dusty brown pelt and a friendly face. Current shadow: Mulberry.

 **Dew:** Female. Blue-grey pelt. Current shadow: Fawn.

 **Frost:** Female. White pelt, with black eyes and pale tan ears and paws. Current shadow: Umber.

 **Copper:** Male. Warm red-brown pelt, with a stern face and a scar under his left eye. Current shadow: Scuttle.

 **Mottle:** Female. Fur mottled tans, browns, and creams. Current shadow: Bracken.

 **Mud:** Male. Warm dark brown fur. A bit older, with a gruff voice and distant personality. Current shadow: Dash.

* * *

 **Shadows**

 **Peanut:** Male. Tan pelt with bright friendly eyes. Doesn't like bugs. Second season, mentor is Clay.

 **Flick:** Male. White with big brown spots and pink paws. Brother to Mulberry. First season, mentor is Aspen.

 **Mulberry:** Male. Warm dark brown pelt, with almost a purplish tint to it. Brother to Flick. First season, mentor is Liken.

 **Fawn:** Female. Pale warm tan pelt, with a pretty face. Her ears and paws a darker richer brown. Sister to Turnip, Tumble, and Twig. First season, mentor is Dew.

 **Turnip:** Male. Rich brown pelt. Brother to Fawn, Tumble, and Twig. First season.

 **Tumble:** Male. Pale warm tan pelt. Brother to Fawn, Turnip, and Twig. First season.

 **Twig:** Male. Pale warm tan pelt with a brown paws. Brother to Fawn, Turnip, and Tumble. First season.

 **Umber:** Male. Dusty brown with a darker brown nose and face that fades to the softer brown of his body. Second season, mentor is Frost.

 **Scuttle:** Female. White pelt with a silvery shimmer, pretty with a small and agile build. Known to be bossy. Second season, mentor is Copper.

 **Bracken:** Male. Brown pelt. Second season, mentor is Mottle.

 **Ivy:** Female. Pale grey with white on her muzzle, belly fur, and ears. Shy, but with a soft and kind heart. Striking blue eyes and a pretty face.

 **Dash:** Male. Lighter brown with some darker brown streaks of fur mixed in. Friendly personality. Second season, mentor is Mud.

* * *

 **Nestling Litters**

 **Moss's Litter:** Petal (female), Dusk (male), Bramble (male), Tulip (female), and Scratch (male).

 **Dapple's Litter:** Cricket (male)

 **Nurse Mouse Litters:** Unnamed (Male), Unnamed (Male)

* * *

 **Nurse Mice**

 **Mother:** Small, with a soft brown pelt. Mother to Flick and Mulberry.

 **Dapple:** White pelt with small black spots and grey patches. Currently nursing one nestling: Cricket.


	2. Chapter 1

The night was dark and still. And though his eyes usually adjusted well to such darkness, tonight they did not. A small forest mouse by the name of Mulberry rubbed his eyes and blinked again into the empty darkness, though still he could only just make out the outlines of the tall grass blades that surrounded him. Wide-eyed, he looked up to the sky, but that too was just a blanket of black, with no twinkles of starlight visible through what he assumed must be a thick fog somewhere above him.  
He let out a long breath, trying very hard to be brave. But bravery for such a small creature in such a vulnerable place was difficult to find. He dared not cry out for others, he knew voicing his presence was the last thing he should be doing, even if he was only a nestling. And, as he thought about the things he should or shouldn't do in such a predicament as he found himself in, he began to realize that he couldn't recall his steps that brought him to this place to begin with. Dreaming, he realized, I must be dreaming.  
With a hesitant confidence, he dropped down to all fours and began to push through the grass blades. If I am dreaming, he thought to himself as he walked, then no harm can come to me. But still, he felt a prickle of nerves, the fur on his spine-tingling.  
Every few moments he paused to sniff the air, nothing to give him any sense of where he was, or where he should be going. Couldn't I just wake up? He thought to himself. If this is a dream, then why am I still asleep? He stopped for a moment, pondering that thought. Mother had always told him that if he were dreaming, and he was scared, he could remind himself that it was only a dream and he would quickly wake to find himself back in his nest. But Mulberry had never really had a nightmare before. In fact, he rarely dreamed at all.  
As he sat on his hind legs, contemplating dreams and how they may or may not work, the sound of a snapping twig jarred him back to the present. Instinctively he dropped to his belly, feeling the damp ground beneath soaking into his belly fur. He focused all his attention on staying absolutely silent. Don't move, don't move, don't move. His tiny heart raced, beating like the loudest rolls of thunder in his ears. His eyes shut closed as tight as they could. Wake up! He told himself, wake up!  
After a few moments, the sound of the snapping twig began to feel almost like a distant memory. How long had it been? A second? An hour? Had he imagined it, even? Or perhaps he himself had made the sound, oh what a silly mouse he was, what a silly mistake. Feeling more confident again, he opened his eyes.  
And, in the sea of darkness that surrounded him, two glowing eyes bared down on him, barely a tails length away. The color of tree sap when the sun shown through it and glowing like the brightest fullest moon, black slits dilating, taking in the darkness. His heart, which had just been beating so fast, now seemed to have stopped beating altogether. A glint of light caught on a row of razor-sharp teeth, and a warm reeking scent burned in his throat.  
Then, all around him like fireflies, more sets of eyes shone down on him. Some further away, some very close. All bearing down on him, all watching him, waiting for him to move, waiting to pounce down on him and snap his neck. To tear his flesh and snap his tiny bones. There were more of them than he could count.  
From the set of eyes directly in front of him came a yowl, an awful blood-curdling noise like none he had ever heard, then the eyes closed in on him and hit him with an impact so strong it knocked the wind out of him. He screeched in fear, shutting his eyes tight again as his life was about to be torn from him. But then, blinking them open one last time again, he saw not the face of a monster, but the face of his brother, Flick.  
Heart still racing, Mulberry took in his surroundings like a wave rushing over his head. Warm air smelling of dirt and dried grass filled his nose; it smelt of home and safety. His brother Flick had bowled him over in his sleep and was now on top of him with his little pink paws pinning his chest down. Flick looked at him with eager eyes, his nose twitching excitedly.  
"Stop it Flick," Mulberry whined, still a bit jarred from his dream, "you scared me."  
Flick laughed, but jumped aside to let his brother get up. "Todays the day," he said, "We have to get ready, c'mon." He jumped side to side playfully.  
Mulberry sighed and rolled over so he was right side up. He couldn't quite shake his dream. "Are you two rolling about in the dirt again?" Mulberry turned to see his mother behind him, scampering over quickly to fuss over him and his brother he was certain. And, sure enough, the little brown mouse charged right over to Flick and grabbed him by the scruff. Flick squealed in complaint but was no match. Mother dropped her squirming nestling and began to lick his face with her soft pink tongue.  
"Stoppppp," Flick whined, but Mother had no intentions to do so. She licked him head to toe, making the white of his fur white again. His brown spots now stood out quite nicely, and even his little pink paws were as clean as a new-nestlings.  
"Your turn." Mother said, turning to Mulberry. Mulberry sighed but didn't resist. He sat still and watched his brother as he sat up and tried to rake his front paws through his tuffy fur on his head, doing his very best to look disheveled again. "You have to look your best.." Mother went on, "today's the day you'll be becoming Shadows after all." Flick perked up, looking quite proud. But Mulberry, well his mind was still elsewhere. Every time he blinked his eyes he thought back to his dream, to the glowing eyes and glistening teeth.  
"Mother," Mulberry said in his squeaky nestling voice, "what type of creature has eyes that glow like amber?"  
Mother thought, pausing from her grooming for a second, "An owl?" she offered, "What has you asking about something like that?"  
She continued her grooming, doing her best to tame the tuffs of hair on the back of Mulberry's neck. "A dream I had," he said, not wanting to talk about it. "But no, not an owl." An owl doesn't have teeth, he knew that. "Something with teeth, like ours, but much bigger."  
Mother had finished grooming him and looked him in the eyes, "Don't you worry my little nestling," she said in a sweet calming voice, "no such creature exists, it's just a figment of your imagination." Mulberry nodded but didn't feel any more at ease. The dream had felt so real, the fear so real. "Now, it's time to go." Mulberry looked back at his mother, snapped out of his short daze.  
"Okay," he said, "I'm ready."


	3. Chapter 2

FeatherShining thank you so much for being my first review! I have tried writing a few stories in the past and have always gotten discouraged feeling like I was writing to an empty audience, so it really is great to see that I have someone interested in my story! I am hoping that this idea is original and exciting and can be something for people to really enjoy. I have to say, I have gotten pretty excited about the idea of where I am going with it. And - to answer your question about the eyes - you will have to just read and find out!

To anyone else who is reading - thanks so much for your support, I hope you are enjoying it! I spent a lot of time overanalyzing my writing and got kind of stumped, so I decided to go more from the heart and just have fun with it rather than get too nit-picky over the editing and making it perfect. So - finally, chapter two! My goal is to post a chapter every week, so please keep checking in! Also, I really would love some feedback from you guys. I think it would be fun if I implemented some characters from my readers. In the next chapter or two, I will be introducing some other Shadows (kind of like apprentices) that will be training alongside Mulberry and his brother Flick. If you guys have a minute, post a comment/review with a character idea you think would be interesting to be added to the story. Rather you want to give an idea on a name, an appearance, a personality, or anything else, I think it would be really great to see your ideas and maybe implement one or two of them! And now the story - Chapter two -

Mulberry poked his head out from the tree roots that made up the entryway to his family's burrow. He hesitated a moment, looking up to the sky and thinking of his dream. But tonight the stars twinkled, and the full moon shone down on the earth, lighting the forest with cool gray light.  
"What are you doing?" Flick's voice came from a few paces ahead. Mulberry broke from his daze and looked to see his brother staring back at him over his shoulder, his excitement for the shadow ceremony evident by his back and forth rocking. He'd always done that when he was excited about something. "Come onnn…" he drew out, as if he had been waiting for moons.  
Mulberry rolled his eyes but scampered over nonetheless. He didn't want to be late, and he knew he needed to stop letting the memories of his dream cloud his head. Tonight was a very important night after all; tonight was the night that they would become shadows. Mulberry perked up a bit, his thoughts now wondering to more exciting places; to exploring the Thicket, to meeting other shadows, to learning to forage and sneak.  
Distracted by his thoughts, the walk to Great Burrow seemed to pass quicker than normal. Mother had stayed quite most of the walk, except to lecture Flick from time to time for chattering. Even the youngest of nestlings knew to be quiet when they were out of the burrow, but still it seemed to be a constant battle with Flick. And, being silent only made him all the more squirmy. The young mouse could hardly contain himself. Mulberry, on the other hand, stood quite still next to his family as they perched themselves at the top of a small hill that sloped down to the entrance of the Great Burrow.  
He'd only been to the Great Burrow once before, when he had been quite young. He had torn a nail when Mother had been teaching him and Flick to dig, and Mother had taken him to the healer mouse. He felt a shiver run down his spine, thinking of the ghostly creature. Her pale blue-grey fur, and her eyes so cloudy they looked like the thickest fog of leaf fall. Mother said she was blind, but Mulberry didn't understand how a blind mouse could be a healer. She hadn't seemed blind. But then again, Mulberry had never known a blind mouse before, he only imagined stumbling about with his eyes closed, and couldn't imagine any mouse could be very good at doing anything like that.  
"What are we waiting for, Mother?" Flick's voice broke Mulberry from his daze. He was still rocking side to side, and occasionally standing up to spin in a small circle impatiently.  
"We will wait until there are fewer mice." Mother said simply, ignoring Flick's antics.  
Mulberry let his gaze steady on the dip below. The bottom of the small hill turned from short growing grass to no grass at all, just a dusty pale colored dirt. A cloud of it seemed to be floating in the air from the many mice who were walking about and tossing it up. Mulberry thought it seemed awfully quite for how many mice there were. "Why is no one talking?" He thought out loud.  
Mulberry could see Mother twitch in irritation out of the corner of his eye, and immediately regretted speaking. Whatever reason for the silence, he had a feeling he was supposed to go along with it too. "No one is talking," Mother said with a sharpness to her tone, "because it is dangerous to do so. You should know this, and so should your brother." She shot Flick a sideways glance, and he sat down promptly, shoulders hunched but claws still scratching impatiently at the ground. "A gathering at the Great Burrow is one of the most dangerous things we can do as mice," she continued in a quite voice, "The forest is full of creatures who want to hunt and eat us. To be gathered all in one place, all praying that one of us doesn't draw the attention of a predator, well… it's important we stay quiet. For ourselves, and for the safety of others too. It's our code of trust." She fell back into quiet, staring out at the many mice that shuffled their way down the hill on any side to the dip below.

After some time, the dip began to be less busy. The dust had started to settle, and only half a dozen mice remained, sniffing the air, turning their heads side-to-side, darting for the entrance as quickly as possible. Mother stood and flicked her tail, it was time to go.  
The small group made their way down the little hill quickly, claws digging into the ground to keep from slipping. Mother's ears swiveled constantly, he knew she must be scared, but an outsider couldn't tell. She looked confident, and her movements were fast and swift as she guided her two nestlings through the dusty ground and over roots to the entrance of the Great Burrow. Just before they ducked in, Mulberry took one last glace to the sky. The branches overhead here had no leaves, and the sky could be seen easily. It felt very open. He could see why mother found it to be dangerous here, more so than underneath the leaf cover of the rest of the forest. Memories of his dream came back to him, but he pushed them away and took his turn to push into the entrance of the Great Burrow.  
It was a tight squeeze, and the long tunnel of a burrow seemed to go on a while before it began to open up. Mulberry raised his ears, and could still feel the top of the burrow brush them, he imagined older mice would still feel a bit cramped here, but he had room now to turn his head about and sniff at the dirt walls. They smelt earthy and strong with the scent of water. He tried to remember the great burrow from his time before, had there been water? Or was it just a scent that held in the damp ground here? He wanted to ask mother, but knew better than to speak.

The tunnel into the great burrow opened up at once to a massive underground den. Above, tree roots tangled about, holding up the dirt roof. Mulberry hadn't remembered this place being so massive. Hundreds of mice were gathered. Some sitting or standing up on their hind legs to look around, some walking about and squeaking out names of other mice.

"Can we talk now, Mother?" Flick asked.

Mother nodded, "We are safe here." She said as she led the way single file down a small path with many paw prints, and towards the mass of mice below. "Keep close."

Flick jumped forward to where his head was right alongside the fur of mother's back. Mulberry kept in the rear, following behind his brother, keeping his eyes locked on his spotted pelt. Here, it would be easy for a nestling to get separated from its family.

"Alright, we will stop here." Mother spoke loud enough to for her nestlings to hear her over the chatter. Mulberry and flick took a seat beside her. They had found their way to the edge of the mass of furry bodies; here there was a bit more room to breathe. Still, the chatter of all the mice filled the air, and the heat from the many bodies took the chill out of the air.

"It's much warmer than in our burrow." Flick spoke Mulberry's thoughts, "is that because there are so many mice?"

"Yes," Mother said, "If there were not, it would be quite cold. We are much further underground here than our burrow."

"How is this burrow so big?" Flick followed up, with his constant flow of questions he always had. He knew the answer, it was a story that mother's often told their nestlings, but he liked the story, and Mulberry had to admit he did as well.

In the safety of the great burrow, Mother seemed more relaxed, and nodded slowly, closing her eyes as she often did before telling a story, as if she were trying to see it in her mind. "Many seasons ago," she began, "our ancestors came upon a tree that stood alone, its routes so massive and entangled that it had taken the nutrients away from all other trees and plants that grew close to it. It was the king of the forest, and it sat proud and strong. Many mice wanted to use its roots to create a burrow of their own, and many seasons the eldest mice discussed this. It was decided that this tree would be our place of safety, of gathering, a place to preserve our culture and traditions. And so our ancestors began to dig. They dug out this incredible burrow with paw and claw, all working together. And now, we come here to celebrate, to discuss, to join together, to name shadows…" she opened her eyes and looked down at her nestlings with a soft smile and proud eyes. "Tonight we gather here for you my nestlings, and for the others who will become shadows alongside you."

Flick looked as though he might wiggle right out of his fur. Mulberry smiled at him, then at Mother. Tonight everything would change for them.


	4. Chapter 3

FeathersShiningInMoonlight Thanks so much for your comments on my last chapter and for your input on character ideas! This chapter ended up running longer than I expected, and I didn't even get into the shadow ceremony yet, but Peanut was briefly mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, and he will be brought back and his character further developed later as the story goes on. Thanks for your continued support!

So, another chapter that took a while to get out there. Man though, has life been busy! I'll keep doing my best to get chapters out in a timely manner, so keep checking back and don't give up on me just yet! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

Mulberry had been listening intently to his mother's stories for some time when another young mouse about his age approached him with a squirmy caterpillar in his paws. It was clear the tan pelted mouse was struggling with the grub, but his bright eyes and friendly smile seemed genuine.

"Would you like a caterpillar?" he asked, holding it out to them between his two front paws. Mulberry caught a smile on Flick's face, and he hoped his brother wouldn't say something rash and accidentally hurt the strangers' feelings.

An older mouse with rugged dark brown hair and a tail broken at the end approached with perhaps two or three squirming caterpillars in his jaw. He spat them out onto the ground and placed a heavy paw on them to stop their futile escape. "What'd I tell you Peanut?" The older mouse shook his head, "hold um' in your mouth."

Mulberry could see now that this young mouse was a shadow. He looked at the grub in his paws with a rather unsightly expression, then looked straight at Mulberry with sad eyes. "I'd like it, thanks." He said, stepping forward and grabbing the caterpillar awkwardly with his paws. He wasn't sure why this shadow didn't want to stick the thing in his mouth, but he felt grabbing it from him with his own mouth might make the situation worse.

Peanut looked at him with gratitude, but only for a moment as another grub was tossed at his paws by the older mouse. "Pick it up," he said gruffly. Peanut sighed and met Mulberry's glance one last time before picking the caterpillar up carefully in his mouth and scampering on to the next grouping of mice. Mulberry could see his walk was tense as he walked away.

"Ha!" Flick laughed once the shadow was out of sight, "what on earth are you doing Mulberry?"

Mulberry looked back to his brother, a bit confused. His brother gestured to his paws, and Mulberry realized he was still standing on his hind paws holding the caterpillar in his paws. "Oh," he said, "I didn't want to make that shadow feel bad." He dropped the grub and fell back on all fours, biting the squirmy thing behind the eyes to stop its squirming. The sweet nutty flavor made him realize he was hungry. "Here," he said, "do you want to share?"

Flick and mother both took bites from the caterpillar, and Mulberry nibbled on the last bit when they had both had their share. As the three sat grooming their faces and whiskers clean, Mulberry asked, "Mother, why was that shadow carrying caterpillars?"

"It's a job they have," she said simply, "you will see – there are many jobs you both will have once you become shadows." Mulberry thought for a moment on this, but his thoughts were interrupted by his brother chuckling.

"What was with that shadow anyways?" Flick asked, clear amusement in his voice, "why didn't he want to carry the caterpillars normal?'

Mother shook her head, "I don't know," she said, "it isn't the mouse way to carry it about awkwardly like he did." She frowned, and Mulberry imagined she was hoping neither of her nestlings would do something so silly and embarrass her like that. But Mulberry felt a bit bad for the mouse, he imagined being a new shadow must be hard enough without people making fun of you too.

A silence suddenly blanketed over the mice in the Great Burrow. Mulberry stood up on his back legs to look around. "Why-" Flick began but was quieted by a flick to the back of his head from mothers tail. But mulberry was able to finish his brothers though in his head, why did it get so quiet?

All heads seemed to be turned in one direction. Mulberry strained his eyes to see what they were all looking at. Far away, on the far side of the mass of mice, three elders made their way slowly up the base of a root that seemed to be the only one not chewed or dug out of this place. They gathered on it and sat down, each one a short distance from the other. After a few long silent moments, one of them spoke.

"We have gathered here today to stand witness to the growing of our colony, and to the coming of age of several young mice who have come here today for their shadow ceremony." The old mouse's voice sounded stronger and louder than Mulberry had expected. He felt very much so in awe of this older mouse, as old as he looked, to sound so strong and hold the respect of all these mice.

"First," he continued after a moment, "we will welcome the new members of our colony." He met eyes with a mouse down in the crowd, close to the front, and gestured with his tail.

Mulberry could see now a young female come to the front of the group and stand just below the root. She held a small and nearly bald creature delicately by the scruff. What looked like four shadows sat next to her, each also holding a pale nestling.

"We have been blessed, Moss, congratulations on five healthy nestlings. Raise them well to serve the colony." Mulberry saw the female, Moss, nod. "And now," the elder continued, "we will name them." His strong voice fell quieter, as he whispered with the other two elders on the root. After a moment, a different elder stepped forward than the first, this one a pale cream female. Though she was old, she still held a delicate beauty in her face and vast wisdom in her eyes. She looked much softer than the first elder, and Mulberry thought she seemed very trustworthy.

"Birch," she spoke. The first shadow in line stepped forward, "the nestling you carry will go by the name of Petal. Shall she grow to be healthy and strong, and bare many nestlings of her own." Birch stepped back in line, and the female elder addressed the next shadow in line, who took his turn to step forward with the second nestling. "The nestling you carry will go by the name of Dusk, may he grow to be a loyal forager for the colony."

Each in order, the nestlings were given their names – Bramble, Tulip, and Scratch. Then, the first elder again stepped forward and dismissed Moss with her new nestlings and the shadows who carried them. Another job for a shadow, mulberry wondered.

The elder mouse again gestured for a mouse to come forward. This female did not shine with pride as the last had, this one approached with tail dragging and ears down, she walked slowly and kept her eyes on the ground until she stood before the root. When she finally looked up, Mulberry wondered where the shadows were that were carrying her other nestlings. He looked around, but no other mice stepped forward to join her. She looked very alone, and many eyes gawked on her.

"Dapple," the elder spoke at last, "is this the only nestling you have?"

The female, Dapple, nodded her head just once.

"What has happened to the others?"

Dapple dropped her one small nestling at her paws and nuzzled it into her belly fur. "They died before the first sun rose after their birth." She said in a voice so weak and small Mulberry could barely hear her words.

An expression flashed across the elder's face that looked almost angry, Mulberry wondered why. He felt only empathy for the sad young female. He then looked to his mother, who was looking down at the ground with an unreadable expression. Him and Flick were only two, had they had siblings that died as well? He felt an emptiness creep into him, and looked back to the root to see what would happen.

The tension in the air was almost unbearable. It seemed like many sunrises must have passed before the elder spoke again. This time he looked up and addressed the entire colony. "For the colony to grow strong, we must have strong mice, and plentiful numbers. We all know this. And, as it is and must be," he paused for a moment, "we must do what is in the best interest of the colony." He looked back down to Dapple, the young female was quivering. "Dapple," the elder spoke in a stern voice, "this is your second litter to be lost –"

"But it isn't!" the female spoke up sharply, then shrunk down again as gasps came up from the audience of mice around her. It was very rude to speak out against an elder and even worse to interrupt a ceremony. Her nerves were clear by her quivering spine, but she spoke still, this time though much quieter. "My nestling survived."

The elder had a cross look on his face, any slight sign of empathy from before now gone. "A nestling survived." The elder spat, emphasizing the A. "Your first litter you bore four nestlings, and none survived through the night. And again this time you lose them. One survived, yes, but one is not enough." He flicked his tail angrily, then regained his composure and continued the ceremony where he had been interrupted. "You shall now take on the role of a nurse mouse. You may no longer bare nestlings of your own, but shall help in the care of other nestlings. After you are finished nursing this nestling and raising it up, you will be assigned to another female with new nestlings to help nurse and raise." He bore his eyes down on her a moment longer, clearly still flustered by her earlier outbreak, "it shall now be named."

Again the female elder stepped forward, her expression unreadable. "The nestling you carry will go by the name of Cricket, may he grow to be a loyal forager for the colony." She nodded to Dapple, and then returned to sit and let the first elder take her place at the front of the root. He nodded to Dapple, and dismissed her with the flick of his tail.

Mulberry felt sick to his stomach, he had been excited before about the shadow ceremony, but now his mind was racing with thoughts of his mother. Would she have to leave her nest now and become a nurse mouse too? Would he never be able to go home to her again? He looked to his brother, who seemed unfazed by all this. Mulberry hoped silently that their mother wouldn't have to leave her nest to become a nurse mouse, that her two nestlings were enough to satisfy the elder.

"And now," The elder spoke up again, "It is time to celebrate our new shadows." Mulberry felt a nudge on his back and looked to see his mother had nudged him to stand.

"Go," she said quietly. Her eyes were filled with sorrow, and Mulberry wanted nothing more to curl up against her belly fur and never leave, but he knew he couldn't stay. He felt all the world tugging against him as he stood and, alongside his brother, walked towards the root. He looked over his shoulder once more to see his mother stand and walk away the other direction through the crowd, his heart raced. He wanted to call out to her, to chase after her. Where was she going? Why wasn't she staying to watch? Panic flashed through him as he wondered if he would ever see her again. He must, right? Even if she did become a nurse mouse, he could still visit her, couldn't he?

A sting to his haunch brought him back to the present, he looked forward to Flick, who had snapped his tail against him. He looked at him with a confused expression, and Mulberry realized he had stopped walking forward. He took a deep breath and nodded, continuing forward beside his brother. His heart ached, raced. And his stomach churned. Every step forward was a step towards something new, and a step away from the life he was leaving behind him. Becoming a shadow would change everything, this he knew, but growing up suddenly had become much scarier than he had ever anticipated.


	5. Chapter 4

**So I've been gone quite a while - apologies. I'm going to try to get this story up and going again. Life is crazy right now, so no promises I'll update frequently, but I'll do my best!**

 **Also, apologies in advance for what I'm sure is a lot of spelling and grammar errors. I'm away visiting my in-laws and am writing on my phone with no spell spell check and it's 1:30 in the morning, so I'm not at my best. Here goes nothing!**

 **Onto the story -**

Chapter 4

Sitting before the Great Root, Mulberry felt very small. The elders above him talked to themselves quietly as other nestlings came to sit beside Mulberry and his brother. Flick sat to his left, his small muscles rippling with excitement under his spotted pelt. To his right, a pretty she-mouse sat very still, looking up towards the elders. Her pelt was a pale warm tan, her ears and paws a darker richer brown. She turned her head suddenly and Mulberry dropped his eyes, fur hot with embarrassment that she'd caught him staring.

The crowd quieted, and Mulberry glanced up to the Great Root in anticipation. The first elder had stepped forward, eyes scanning above the still fluffy heads of the nestlings below him and out at the crowd beyond. Mulberry tried to focus on what he was saying, but his mind kept pulling back to the look he saw on his mother's face just before she'd turned to walk away.

A light rustle drew Mulberry's attention back, a third elder had lept down from the High Root and stood before Flick. This elder had three long slashes along his side. Mulberry almost gasped, realizing who he was. Mother had told him stories, of a brave mouse who had survived the attack of an owl. Had bit the creatures talons and been dropped many tail lengths to the ground. To survive, only barely, and forever bare the scars of the owls talons.

The scarred old mouse spoke in a strong voice, like the first elder had, but sounding a bit younger perhaps. "Flick," he began, "you have journeyed here today to take your place as a member of the colony, to become a Shadow, to learn our ways and prove yourself."

Flick was beaming, Mulberry half wondered if his brother would be able to keep his composure. He could see his tail swiping back and forth, all his excitement building up inside his little body.

Luckily, the Shadow ceremony was a short one. The scarred elder touched noses to Flick and spoke something quietly that Mulberry couldn't hear, then announced his mentor - a Forrager by the name of Aspen.

Flick sat back down as the elder passed him and moved on to Mulberry. His ceremony went very much the same, Mulberry paid close attention to his words and forced thought of his mother to the back of his mind. The elders nose was cold when it touched his, and his quiet whisper was words of advice "follow your instinct, for it will not fail you."

Mullyberry looked at him somewhat puzzled as he stepped back, his eyes showed no emotion, but he nodded briefly. Mulberry wondered if he gave every new shadow the same words of advice, he'd ask his brother later. "Your mentor," he spoke loudly again, clearly for all to hear, "will be Liken."

Mulberry sat down as Flick had, and the ceremony continued, with the pretty she-mouse next in line. Fawn, her name was. "Your mentor," the elder spoke, "will be Dew."

Three more Shadows were named, each with a pelt similar in color to Fawns, and Mulberry deduced they must all be nestmates. Thoughts of his own mother shot across his mind again briefly but he forced it aside.

When the ceremony was over, the crowd began to chatter again with squeaks of gossip and relatings of recent happenings. With a look back up the the High Root, Mulberry noticed the elders had gone, and he wondered briefly where they had disappeared to so quickly. Flick had already jumped to his paws and was bouncing about excitedly.

"It's time to meet our mentors!" He squealed, his voice sounding very young still.

Mulberry smiled and nodded, "Mother said they'd join us here, we should wait." He reminded his brother, but his voice was light, and he had to admit that he was excited too - despite the thoughts of his mother and of his dream that kept creeping back to him.

"She's pretty." Flick said dreamily. Mulberry looked over his shoulder, the she-mouse, Fawn, was chatting excitedly with her siblings in a huddle close by. Mulberry just gave a hmmf and shrugged, but he felt his face flush and felt for some reason agitated at his brothers comment.

"Flick," came a voice, immidatly followed by another voice who spoke Mulberry's name. Mulberry turned back to see two mice who had come up to them through the crowd. "I'm Aspen," said the first voice, seeming to address both Mulberry and Flick.

"And I am Liken," said the seccond.

The two Forragers seemed to be friends, they stood close together as they introduced themselves to their new Shadows. Mulberry felt a wave of relief wash over him. Both mentors were young and seemed friendly enough. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the other new Shadows mentors making acquaintances. He noticed Fawn looking down at her paws, and her mentor - Dew, he recalled - looked irritated. Mulberry frowned but turned back to his mentor.

"The ceremony over, everyone will be going their separate ways now." It was Liken who spoke this time. He gestured to the crowd with a flick of his long tail. "You both have a long day ahead of you, let's get you settled in to your new burrows."


	6. Chapter 5

**I am working on making a list of all the mice of importance in the colony. Or rather all mice mentioned at least. Right now I am needing 10 names for lower importance characters that will all be shadows. Would love to hear any suggestions you guys may have, always awesome to include your ideas! You can use the names so far as references, just nature sounding names really. Types of plants or the names of earthy colors or sometimes mouse related adjectives like Flick and Scratch.**

 **Again excuse any spelling errors, still without spell check but was excited to get another chapter up. Hope you guys like it!**

Outside of the Great Burrow, the air was cool and crisp, Mulberry drank it in greatfully, relishing in the fresh air. His brother, Flick, poked his head out last and scampered past Mulberry to trot alongside his new mentor.

Mulberry watched the three of them, just ahead of him. They spoke in a whisper, too low to hear. After a moment Flick flattened his ears and he back beside his brother. In trouble for chatting out in the open again, Mulberry guessed. He wished his brother would learn to listen better, otherwise adjusting to Shadow life would be hard for him.

Who am I kidding, Mulberry thought to himself, it'll be hard for all of us. He sighed and looked up at the sky as they walked along. Stars still sparkled above him, peeking in and out of the leaves of the trees overhead. A shiver ran down his spine. He wished he'd forget about his dream soon.

"We're here." Liken spoke just ahead of them. Mulberry and Flick both looked up to see a large stump. Mulberry gasped, it must have been wider than any tree he'd ever seen, snapped by a storm, with what once was its towering trunk and canopy now rotting in the forest floor alongside it. Patches of moss and new plant life growing out of cracks in its bark.

Mulberry followed the two mentors and his brother through a mouse sized hole in the stump and inside. "This," Liken gestured with his tail to the inside of the hollowed out stump, "is where the Shadows sleep."

"Wow!" Flick squeaked, too excited to contain himslef. It was impressive, Mulberry agreed silently. The stump had been gnawed away on the inside, carefully hollowed out in the center. And all along it's walls were small outcrops carved into the wood. Small bodies were curled up in a few of them, some with eyes now sleepily glancing in their direction.

"The hollows without bedding are not taken, you're each welcome to one. Tomorrow you will collect bedding for your nests." Aspen told the new Shadows, glancing around then resting his watchful eyes back on them. "Two Foragers will always be here on shifts to protect you, but this is a safe place. No creature will hurt you here." He added reasuringly, and Mulberry relaxed a bit. It was scary being away from home, even if this place was amazing.

"Damp moss and dead grubs are kept over there," Liken added, gesturing with his nose, "if you should get hungry or thirsty in the night. You're not to leave the stump at any time without a Forrager accompanying you." With a side glance, Mulberry noticed his brother looked agitated by this. But his expression quickly changed back to excitement, nothing would dampen his spirits tonight.

Through the entrance of the Stump, a fair sized group of mice pushed in one at a time. He recognized them to be the other new shadows from the ceremony and their mentors. Mulberry's smaller group watched them enter and begin to talk in a group.

Liken cleared his throat quietly to get his groups attention again. "I will be one of Forragers on shift tonight here. You can come to me if you need anything. Tomorrow you start your training, you should both go rest before dawn breaks." He nodded and dismissed himself to trot over and speak with another mouse. Aspen nodded fairwell as well and left through the entrance of the Stump.

Soft fur brushed agains Mulberry's side as his brother bounded off eagerly in search of a nest of his own. Mulberry followed slower, taking everything in.

Small bodies breathed heavy with sleep, flanks rising and falling peacefully in the many nests along the stumps walls. "There's so many.." he thought out loud.

Flick had chosen a nest, he laid down half in it so his front paws and head poked out. He was chatting with someone to the right of him. Mulberry craned his neck to see the pretty she-mouse, Fawn, giggling bashfully. Mulberry felt his fur prickle and quickly took the nest to his brothers other side. He curled up in a ball with his back turned to the entrance. The ground underneath was cold and hard, and Mulberry missed his home terribly. He felt so many emotions in his little body. Fear of the starless night, dread for his mother's unknown future, longing for the warmth and comfort of home, and... bitterness perhaps? Jeslousy? towards his brother. He wasn't sure.

"Hey!"

Mulberry turned his head. To the den to his left another mouse had poked his face around. Mulberry noticed that he had unusual coloring, the end of his nose was a darker brown than the rest of his face. His eyes shone bright, similarly, Mulberry noted, to how Flicks usually did.

"I'm Umber," he said, "I saw you at the shadow ceremony. Are you excited to be a Shadow now? I sure was excited. Nervous too, but excited. I was made a Shadow at the ceremony before yours, so I'm not too much older than you. I'd be happy to help you out if you need any help!"

"Thanks," Mulberry said simply, "my names Mulberry, and my brother," he tilted his head to gesture, "is Flick."

"Looks like he's already made a friend." Umber had poked his head further out to be able to better see Flick when Mulberry had mentioned him. He was still chatting with the she-mouse Fawn. "That's great," Umber said with a smile, scooting back a bit and nustling his paws under his chest. He looked back to Mulberry, "making friends can be hard sometimes."

Mulberry nodded, looking around the inside of the Stump absently.

"We could be friends," Umber said a bit quieter, Mulberry looked back to him, his eyes were full of hesitant hope and he wondered briefly why that was.

"Uh, sure." Mulberry said. His new friends face still looked questioning. "Ya," Mulberry said, making his voice sound happier, "that would be nice."

This seemed to convince Umber. He returened to his chipper state, going on again about this and that. Mulberry listened and offered nods occasionally, but his mind was still elsewhere.

"I should get some sleep." Mulberry said politely after a while. He knew he'd have to get up soon, and wasn't particularly looking forward to it. He'd been so excited about becoming a shadow only a day ago, what had changed? He sighed and curled up, turning his back again to the opening of the nest and letting his head rest on his paws. He closed his eyes, nose to the cold wood wall of his nest, and let sleep overcome his tired body


	7. Chapter 6

**So. My phone deleted my first half of this chapter and now I have to start over. Just glitched in the middle of writing and went blank. Uhggggg...**

 **Quick update on the character list. The name suggestions you guys gave were awesome, super helpful, you guys are amazing! I should hopefully have that ready to share with you guys in one of the next couple updates.**

 **These past few days I've been writing on my phone and despite the reset issue I just had its still easier for me to get updates out quicker because I can write little bits here and there when I'm on the go. But, I'm usually a perfectionist. So, I'm going to leave it up to you guys - More frequent updates but with some spelling and grammar issues like the past two chapters. Or, less frequent updates but triple checked for spelling and all that good stuff. Thoughts?**

 **Feathershade - Thanks so much for the name suggestions! I'm pretty sure I used all of them, you're the best! Have I said that already? Well, a third time then, you're the best!**

 **Goreslash - Woohoo!! New reader and reviewer! So excited, thank you! Scuttle will make an appearance in this chapter, but I likely won't get too into her character until the next few chapters. So, hopefully when I get into the next few chapters you'll like how I write her!**

Daylight shone through the entrance of the Stump, pulling Mulberry from his dreamless sleep. He blinked his eyes wearily and yawned, stretching his front legs out.

The center of the Stump was bustling with activity, Shadows talking amongst themselves, eager to start their day. Mulberry felt less enthused, but stood and walked over anyways.

"Hey!" The light brown Shadow with the dark face from last night trotted over to Mulberry.

"Hey Umber." Mulberry replied. Feeling very grateful now to have someone to talk with. He felt very out of place here, he'd always assumed he and his brother would stick together once they became Shadows, but Flick seemed to already have his own group of friends. He chatted with them eagerly a few mouse lengths away.

"Frost, that's my mentor," Umber explained quickly, "said we'd be training with you and some of the other new shadows today!" Excitement danced in his eyes.

Mulberry opened his mouth to respond, but stopped short as the the voice of a Forager he hadn't seen before spoke above the chatter.

"That's my mentor," Umber whispered to him, "they're organizing groups for the day, c'mon." He trotted over to the group and sat, waiting for directions. Mulberry followed and took a seat beside him.

"We have several new Shadows with us today." Umbers mentor, Frost, spoke to the group. "We will be breaking up in groups of eight today to show them the territory." She paused for a moment, making sure everyone was paying attention, then continued. "Umber, Scuttle, Bracken, and Mulberry, you and your mentors will be in my group." She nodded to Aspen who had stepped up next to her, then flicked her tail gesturing her group to follow after her. Mulberry followed Umber through the crowd, one ear swiveled to listen to Aspen as he announced his group for the day.

Frost sat waiting, her tail flicked back and forth impatiently. Mulberry wanted to ask his new friend what sort of mentor she was, but he thought better of it and decided to ask later.

Once their group of eight had assembled, Frost cleared her throat and spoke clearly to everyone. "It is very uncommon for us to travel in large groups, can anyone tell me why that is?"

"Because numbers make us easier to spot to predators." Umber spoke up.

Frost nodded to him with what Mulberry thought was a glint of pride, but it lasted only a moment, and Mulberry wondered if he'd imagined it.

"Yes." She said. "But it is tradition to show the territory to new Shadows on their first day, and on this occasion we travel in a larger group."

"Mentors," she continued, "You will scout ahead to your locations. Make sure the path is clear. Liken, you'll run ahead to the Great Burrow, I will meet you there with the group for our first stop."

Liken nodded and took his leave. "Mottle, you'll take the river. Copper, you can head to the tree-fall spot." Both mice nodded in turn and left through the Stump entrance. Frost turned her gaze back to the four Shadows in front of her. "I want you to pair up, each First Season with a Second Season. Second seasons, I expect you to be responsible of your First Season, remember your training and take care that they are quiet and keep up."

Umber had already pressed his flank against Mulberry's. The other two Shadows, a small white she-mouse with a scowl on her face and brown mouse he recognized from his Shadow ceremony, met each other's eyes and both shrugged.

Satisfied, Frost nodded to the two pairs. "Keep up," she said sternly, "and don't make a squeak." Umber, Mulberry, and the brown mouse nodded. The white she-mouse rolled her eyes then nodded as well with a huff. Frost flicked her tail at this, but said nothing and turned to leave.

Outside of the Stump, the sun beat hotly down onto the forest floor. Mulberry looked to the sky, there were no clouds today to soften the heat of the sun.

Frost took the lead, scampering quickly to the cover of a bush that smelt of sweet berries. Mulberry felt his belly rumble and wondered when they'd get to eat. He pushed his way through the twigs and leafs, sticky half rotten berries squelching between his toes, keeping his eyes locked on the light pelt of Frost in front of him.

Nearing the edge of the bush, Frost stopped abruptly, almost causing Mulberry to bowl into her. She'd poked her head out and was looking around. He watched her ears swivel. Mulberry had seen his mother do this before, she was checking for predators.

Deeming the area safe, Frost took off at full speed across a wide stretch of low grass and dirt. Mulberry darted off after her, his heart pounding in his chest. The sun beat down on his back and he knew without looking that there was no coverage above them. Safe at last, he followed Frosts tail into a patch of tall dead grass that grew against the stump of a tree.

Panic rose in him for a second as he lost sight of her long pink tail. He sniffed the air, trying to sent her, but his nose was untrained and all he could detect was grass and the sweet sticky smell of the berries that still stained his paws.

A nose pressed against his flank and Mulberry just about jumped out of his skin, barely surprising a squeal. Umber matched his eyes calmly, then flicked his head as a motion to follow. Mulberry fell in step behind him, taking extra care not loose sight of him, nearly stepping on his tail more than once.

To Mulberry's surprise, there was a hole in the base of the tree. He followed close behind his friend and pushed his way through. It was a tight squeeze to get in, and a terribly claustrophobic space inside. Unlike the Stump that the Shadows lived in, this tree was still alive, smelling of sap and wet wood. A space barely big enough for the five mice to squeeze in had been gnawed out in its base. Mulberry fidgeted and accidentally stepped on one of the white she-mouses paws. She snapped him a glair. If looks could kill, he thought to himself and despite the close quarters pushed himself even closer to Umber who was squeezed in on his other side, trying to give the irritable she-mouse as much space as was possible.

"Good," Frosts voice came quietly after a long moment of silence. Mulberry wondered how long they'd be in this tight space, breathing each other's hot air. "It is critical when out in the open to keep quiet and be fast on your paws. And," she added, "to always check your surroundings before leaving cover."

Frost spoke to her Shadow now, "Umber," she addressed him, "how must one check their surroundings before leaving cover?" She asked.

"By poking your nose out first to smell for predators, then by peeking the rest of our head out to listen and look for them."

Frost nodded, "Correct. And where must we look for predators? Mulberry?"

Mulberry felt his fur prickle being put on the spot. "In the trees," he offered, "for birds and owls."

"And?"

"And across the forest floor for creatures who walk, like foxes." He added.

"Yes," Frost said, "though no one has seen a fox here in many seasons. It is always wise to be alert for them and other creatures who walk along the forest floor. Where else?"

Mulberry swallowed a lump in his throat, he wasn't sure. "In the sky." Mulberry turned his head, it was the white she-mouse who had spoken.

"Good," said Frost, "thank you Scuttle."

Scuttle nodded. Mulberry felt a flash of relief, and even more so when Frost pushed through to lead them back out of the small hollow.

Out in the open again the mice fell silent, following in a line. This time Mulberry and Umber took up the rear, following closely to the other two shadows. They darted between bushes, logs, and patches of tall grass, and it wasn't long before they reached the Great Burrow.

Liken was waiting there for them, sitting in the entrance to the Great Burrow with his usual happy expression. As the group approached, he turned and disappeared into the Burrow. Frost and the group of shadows followed after him.

They found themselves in the belly of the Great Burrow that the Shadow ceremony had taken place in. "You can talk freely here," it was Liken who spoke, "this is an area of safety for all mice." He nodded farewell to Frost who left without another word. Mulberry noticed Umber watching her leave and wondered how close mentors and Shadows often got. Frost didn't seem like a terribly friendly she-mouse.

"This is the Great Burrow." Liken spoke to the group. "It is where ceremonies and meetings are held. Who can tell me how often the colony meets here?"

"Four times a season cycle," Umber spoke up, "when the first bud of the year blossoms, when the grass turns yellow from the long sun, when the days get cold and the first leaf falls, and when... the cold white stuff falls from the sky."

"Snow," Liken said, "yes very good." He began to walk and flicked his tail for the others to follow. "Mulberry and Bracken," he address as they walked, "you became shadows in long sun season. You will be First Season Shadows until Leaf Fall comes. Umber and Scuttle are Second Season Shadows, they became Shadows in the New Bloom Season, and when Leaf Fall comes they will move on to become Foragers, if they pass their tests." He added.

Mulberry glanced at Umber, who beamed at this. When Leaf Fall comes, Mulberry thought to himself, his friend would be gone. And he'd be alone. He shook the thought aside, this was his first day, he hadn't met any of the other Shadows yet, he'd make more friends. He wouldn't be alone. And there would always be Flick. Flick..

"Scuttle," Liken spoke again, breaking Mulberry's thoughts, "can you tell the new Shadows what else is here at the Great Burrow." He'd stopped walking for a moment to look back at the others.

There was more? Mulberry heard Scuttle scoff. "The healer mouse is here." She said in a voice that seemed a bit degrading, "and the nurse mice live here too, until they're needed."

Nurse Mice! Thoughts of his mother flooded back to Mulberry. "The nurse mice," Mulberry blurted out, "will we get to meet them?"

Liken looked confused by Mulberry's sudden interest but didn't question it. He nodded, "Yes, but first we will visit the healer mouse." He continued walking to where a long tunnel curved off from the main burrow.

This tunnel was short, and soon forked. Liken took the tunnel to the left, and the others followed. A bitter leafy scent filled Mulberry's nose, overpowering the mud scent the Burrow usually smelt of, so strong Mulberry could taste the minty bile of it in his throat.

The tunnel opened up to another hollow, similar in size to the one Mulberry and Flick had grown up in with their Mother. This burrow had several small nests of dry grass and feathers, the scene looked familiar to Mulberry. This was where he'd been cared for as a nestling when he'd torn his nail, but that had been very long ago and the memory was clouded. In one of the nests, a small mouse, no more than a moon old, slept, its body shaking. Mulberry subconsciously took a step back, not wanting to get whatever that mouse had.

Distracted, Mulberry didn't notice at first when a little black nose poked out from a side tunnel he hadn't even seen was there before. The mouse that came out was familiar too, blind and old. She carried some herbs in her mouth which she dropped by the nestling before approaching the group.

"Liken," she said with a gravely voice, "and if I'm not mistaken Scuttle, yes I've seen you many times, not mistaken at all. And.. Mulberry?"

Mulberry gaped at her, astonished by the blind old she-mouse. "Yes," Liken said, "Umber snd Bracken are here with us as well. Good to see you again Juniper."

Juniper nodded. "Here for the new Shadows I presume. I'll stay out of your way." She turned to resume her work with the nestling, trying to stir him to eat the herbs she'd brought. The nestling turned his nose up and whined.

"This is the Healers Burrow." Liken resumed his teaching, "Juniper takes care of the sick and wounded here. She does a great service to the colony. Her herbs are kept in the herb stores there," he motioned to the side tumble with his nose. Mulberry could tell clearly now that was the source of the bitter scents.

Not disturbing Juniper from her work, Liken returned to the tunnel they'd come from and led the group to where the Nurse Mice lived.

 **So, I think I'm going to call it for this chapter. I was going to do the entire first day but I'm already over 2k words and not even half way into the day. I've also been writing three hours typing on my phone and am exhausted with writing, and now we are bumping along in my fiancé's old truck and all this bumping and shaking about of my phone is giving me a headache trying to look at the little font jumping about like it is. So goodnight, and thanks for reading! Will try to getanother update up in the next few days!**


	8. Chapter 7

**So, it's been a while. I could spew excuses all day, i have some pretty valid ones - I'm getting married for one, building a house for another, but if I am being honest I think I find I have a hard time writing without feedback. Is that awful? I just, start to feel like I am writing to no one but myself! But I do enjoy it, I want to be better!**

 **Thank you Octaviapaz for following my story, you have inspired me to finish this chapter I started ages ago! Anyways, I hope you all like the update, I will try to post more often.**

* * *

"Mother.." the word came before Mulberry even realized he'd spoken it. His heart wrenched as he approached her, "mother?" His voice sounded weak, even to himself.

The curled brown body raised its head, revealing two little nestlings tucked into the curve of her body. "Mulberry?" her voice sounded defeated, but hope glittered in her eyes when she saw her nestling walking towards her. She seemed strained between jumping to greet him and laying very still to not disturb the newborns that slept on her.

Mulberry stopped a mouse length away, eyes unable to look away from the weak little pink bodies.

"They were brought to us this morning." His mother said delicately, "their mother died giving birth to them."

Mulberry felt a pang of jealousy, first his brother had replaced him, and now his mother had as well. "We care for them here, all of us." His mother said as if reading his thoughts, "but they could never replace you and your brother. You know that, don't you my sweet nestling?"

Mulberry dug his claws into the ground to keep himself from turning his back to her. "You love them?" He asked, realizing how cruel and bitter it sounded after he'd said it.

"We" she spoke with an enfaces on the word, "have to. No one else ever will." She looked back to them with a sad warm look, and Mulberry couldn't hold himself back anymore. He'd been worried for his mother, but she cared more for for these scraps of fur than for her own nestlings. He glared at them, they looked weak and thin, not plump and warm like a new nestling should. They'll die before sunrise, he thought angrily, shooting a hateful look to his mothers eyes, just like the rest of your nestlings did.

He turned in a flash and took off again down the tunnel to the main belly of the Great Burrow.

The earth was cold and hard beneath him. He sat with his thin tail curled against his body, either for comfort or warmth perhaps, he wasn't sure. He could feel his whiskers quivering against his will. He refused to be sad, he absolutely refused. He would be mad, that was easier, easier than letting the pain soak into him like the frigid moisture of the ground.

"Mulberry" He wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there, it felt like an eternity, but maybe it hadn't been so long after all. Mulberry turned his head, keeping his expression blank, to see who had called for him. It was Umber, he waited a few paces away with a concerned look on his face. The rest of the group, he noticed, was filing out of the tunnel entrance a ways back. They stopped and started talking amongst themselves, though they were too far off and spoke too quietly for Mulberry to make out their words. He knew that Liken was distracting the group to give him a minuet, and he shuffled his paws uneasily realizing he'd have to go back soon, and after the scene he caused.. he let out a heavy sigh.

"Can I sit with you?" Mulberry's eyes flicked away from the group and back to Umber, he was still hesitating a few tail lengths away. Mulberry nodded.

"Ya," he said. Umber padded up and sat down beside him, not quite touching but close enough for Mulberry to feel his warmth. "I didn't mean.. to make such a scene." he screwed up his face and flexed his front paws, scratching at the packed mud floor.

"It's okay," Umber said. He looked over his shoulder at the group before looking back at Mulberry. A long moment passed, Mulberry could feel a tension and knew his friend was trying to help but wasn't sure what to say. "They won't mention it," he said at last, "Liken told um' not to. He said it would be hard for them too, if they.. had been in the same situation."

Mulberry scowled down at his paws, somehow that made him just feel worse, a lot worse. The only thing worse than being teased about something was to know everyone was thinking about it and staring at you but not saying _anything_.

"We have to go back now," Umber said cautiously, "they're waiting for us."

Mulberry nodded and stood, not caring enough to lick his fur flat where it stood up on his back leg from sitting on the damp earth. He caught Umber's nervous look before dropping his gaze and walking slowly back to the group, tail dragging. What was he thinking, what did any of this matter. Shadows, mentors, training, he didn't care about any of it anymore.

When he reached the group he sat down, keeping his eyes on his paws. He felt hot under his pelt, and he swore everyone was staring at him. Umber sat beside him as Liken finished up what he was talking about, something about the elder mice, but Mulberry wasn't paying attention until everyone started to stand up and Liken spoke loudly to the group "Let's head out, we are going to the river now."

* * *

The rest of the morning went on in a haze. Mulberry was so in his own head he forgot to be afraid, or nervous, or anything else really, when it came to darting here and there across the forest floor. The day began to improve slightly once they reached for river. Mulberry had never seen a river before, and by the look on Bracken's face, he never had either. Umber and Scuttle both looked out at the glistening water with an adventurous glint in their eyes. Mulberry thought he might have detected a slight smile on Scuttles face. The river was beautiful. Terrifying in a sense, but serine too. Whatever the river made them feel, it seemed to make the others forget the show of that morning, and even Mulberry felt his spirits lighten a bit.

Mottle stood next to Liken and exchanged a few quiet words with him. They were standing under an overhanging fungus that grew out of a tall fir, it was the largest mushroom top Mulberry had ever seen. It's shade was welcoming, as the day had grown even hotter. The river looked cool and Mulberry found his mouth felt dry.

"This is the river that divides the forest," Mottle spoke to the group, "there's no way around it. The river is cool in the summer, and its sandy shores give us a place to safely drink from it and refresh ourselves. But do not be mistaken, the river is dangerous. It's current can take away any mouse in a moment, so you must use caution. Now," she said, "come with me." She dipped her head to Liken, who did the same to her in return and then left through a patch of tall grass. Mulberry watched his mentor leave and found that it made him a bit unnerved. Umber nudged him gently in the side, and Mulberry turned to keep up with the group who were scampering lowly through the shadows.

They scurried down a sandy slope, and pushed through thorn bushes that pulled on Mulberry's pelt. After a moment the group stopped. The vines seemed to give way a bit, and arched overhead, sheltering them with thorn and branch and leaf from the sky above and the world around them. Mulberry sniffed the air, it was blackberries, he realized. Umber smiled at Mulberry, "It's safe here," he said, "this is my favorite spot."

Mulberry looked around, he could see why it would be. The blackberry vines encompassed a sandy area and a portion of the river, with its vines high enough in most places to not have to duck or wind through them. It was a fairly open area, for their small group at least, and blackberries were everywhere - on the ground and clinging to the vines, ripe and sweet smelling. Scuttle was down by the water, drinking it in. He noticed for a moment that she was actually quite beautiful, as bossy and rude as she was. The ripples of the river water and the sun patches that came through the vines above made her white pelt shine. Umber cleared his throat, and Mulberry looked at him, his pelt hot.

"You want none of that, my friend." Umber said with a grin, "she's pricklier than these blackberry vines." Mulberry laughed at that, and again when Bracken tried to drink next to her and was greeted with a flick of her tail sharply to his side. He pouted away and drank a few tail lengths away by himself. Umber nudged Mulberry and the two trotted off to get a drink themselves.

The water was far better than he could have even imagined. It was crisp, and so cold it chilled him though pelt and bone. It felt wonderful after the long morning. And the berries, well, they were even better. He swore he'd never eaten such sweet berries. His paws and face were a deep reddish black by the time he'd eaten his fill, and the group all lazed about a bit while they groomed their pelts. Mulberry felt the aches of his morning begin to ease, and he breathed in the fresh forest smells, so rich with the sweet sticky scent of blackberries.

* * *

Their last stop of the day was the tree-fall spot. The sun was fading by the time they reached it, and as it set in the west with bursts of orange and yellow and red, the dead forest looked on fire. Mulberry kept his ears pinned and tail down, his eyes darted about nervously. Why would any mouse come to a place like this? It was dark, and smelt terrible. Black powder stuck to his paws and legs and belly fur, the terrible stench of it making his head ache and his stomach lurch.

The group stopped in a hollow fallen log. "this is the tree-fall spot," Said Copper, the last of the mentors who had taken Mottles place at the burn line of the forest. He was a bit older than Mulberry's own mentor, Liken. Copper, true to his name, had a warm red brown pelt, but his personality was anything but warm. He had a stern face, and a scar just below his left eye. He guessed that he was Scuttle's mentor, by the way her mannerisms changed around him. She kept her eyes trained on her paws, and jumped once when he came close to her. Mulberry frowned, feeling a sickly feeling in his belly at that, something seemed strange between them.

"A great fire burnt this section of the forest to the ground, not long ago, it was the beginning of this sun season. It was in a terrible storm, fire flashed in the sky, roaring. Even the rain couldn't stop the spread, not until late into the night. Once the fire stopped, its damage was devastating. Many mice died, burned alive in their burrows. Foragers and nestlings alike, it spared no one."

The group was silent and still as the dead forest, Coppers words chilled them all to the bone despite the heat of the evening. He looked them all over with his dark eyes, as if daring them to say something. "This forest teaches us something. It teaches us the most important lesson that you can learn. We are _nothing,_ we are weak feeble creature. We scavenge, we run, and we hide. And that is how we survive. Even these great trees were no match for the great fire, and it is but one of many enemies in this forest. Everything here wants to kill each and every one of you. You must be cowards. You must run, you must hide, and you must submit," he ground his teeth as if irritated, darting a glance at Scuttle who's spine shivered, "to this forest.." he finished. "Or it will kill you."

* * *

The walk back to the Stump was a long one. Though it was dark, the air was still hot. Mulberry somehow felt even more awful now than he had that morning. His brother, well, he was living his own life it seemed. His mother had all but forgotten him. He'd made a fool out of himself in front of the others, and the forest... and Coppers words. _You must be a coward,_ it made Mulberry feel so defenseless. I suppose that was the point, he thought to himself. Copper really had a way of scaring others. He knew that it was important to be fearful, to run and hide, to never be brave.. that was how they survived. His mother had told him something similar, as every nestling was told growing up. But for some reason this time it rang in his head endlessly. To be a coward. Mulberry was a coward, he knew as much, but he didn't want to be, was that wrong? He looked at Scuttle, sulking a few paces ahead of him, the low undergrowth they walked through brushing her ears back against her head. Copper was her mentor, and it was clear he had engrained that in her mind firmly, _be a coward._ He felt bad for her, and he knew he didn't want to turn out like that himself.


	9. Chapter 8

**Woo! Finally got this chapter finished. Poor Mulberry, one rough day after another. I think the next few chapters are going to be a bit slower though, training and relationship building. Fleshing in some characters more. Anyways, I hope you guys like this update. Let me know what you think, I always love hearing from you guys, it's what keeps me going! You guys are awesome!**

 **The MoonClanner, thank you so much for your review! Made my day when I saw you'd left me one. I really like your idea, with where I am taking the story I actually am going to put a teensy bit of a twist on your description, she's going to be a "rogue" of sorts, but she's going to end up being pretty important with where I have this going I think and otherwise sticking pretty true to your description. Anyways, keep reading, it'll be a few chapters before I introduce her but I hope you like what I do with her character! Thank you again so much for the review, I hope you follow my story and continue to enjoy it!**

 **Onto the story ~**

* * *

"What are you still doing up?"

Mulberry started, and turned to see his brother trotting up to him. "Oh," he said, "hey Flick."

Flick sat down beside Mulberry, their flanks brushing up against each other with the rising and falling of their breaths. "You okay, brother?" Flick nudged Mulberry gently, he looked to him. His brother always had a smile on his face. Mulberry envied that.

"Mother is a nurse mouse." Mulberry said, looking down to his paws.

Flick was quiet for a moment. "I thought they might make her one." Flick said finally. Mulberry looked to him, he wasn't smiling now, but he didn't seem upset either.

"You aren't upset?" He asked.

Flick shook his head, "Why should I be? We are shadows now, we have our own lives to live." He pressed his nose to Mulberry's face, a sweetness Flick was usually too busy for. Maybe he really was growing up, Mulberry thought.

Mulberry didn't respond. He wasn't sure how to feel about it all still, he knew that usually once nestlings went on to become shadows they didn't see their mothers again except for at the great burrow a few times a season cycle. But still. He wasn't ready to let her go, wasn't ready to be replaced, and so easily too. It made him feel bitter and sad all at once.

"Cheer up," Flick said, his smile returned, "you'll alway have me." He winked at Mulberry, and laughed, "sorry you can't get rid of me."

Mulberry laughed, despite himself. I love you too, he thought to himself.

* * *

Mulberry woke feeling refreshed. The time he had spent with his brother the night before grounded him in a way, and helped him feel more ready to take steps forward, instead of constantly looking back. He still thought of his birth burrow, and of mother, but when he did the thoughts didn't drown him anymore. He tried to focus on the present, best he could.

Today the shadows had been sent out alone with their mentors. Mulberry followed after Liken's dusty brown pelt as he leaded him through the forest. They walked in silence, checking for danger before leaving each bush or cover. It was becoming almost second nature to Mulberry now. Before he had become a shadow, he'd seldom left his birth burrow. The world outside had been big and scary, but it seemed a bit less so now that he knew how to be more aware of his surroundings.

By sun high, they'd come to a stop in a cluster of blackberry vines. Liken stood on his back legs and reached up to grab a plump berry for himself, he was tall when he stood like that. It reminded Mulberry how much smaller he was than Liken, and how much he still had to grow before he could be anything like his mentor.

Liken sat down, and nibbled on his berry. Mulberry grabbed one more at his own level and started on it as well.

"Were you paying attention when we came here?" Liken asked.

Mulberry nodded, "I checked before I left cover every time." he said confidently.

Liken nodded, "very good," but that's not all that there is to being safe in the forest. Mulberry frowned down at his half eaten berry but said nothing. "You have to know where you've been, and where you're going. You have to always be five steps ahead of yourself."

Mulberry looked back up to his mentor, "Okay," he said, "that makes sense."

"Can you guess why then, that it's so important?"

"Well, you have to know where you've been to get back to where you came from." Mulberry said lamely. He felt he could have worded that better.

Liken smiled, "Sure enough." he said, "But more than that, you have to always have a plan for where you're going, and different ways to get there." He paused to let that sink in before continuing. "When you're on your own in the forest, you'll need to leave your burrow to get food, and to find water, to find soft grasses to make your bedding. You'll find you're on your own in the forest a lot, and you need to know how to get quickly and safely to where you need to be."

Mulberry nodded.

"To put it simply," Liken continued, "If you're leaving your burrow to go to a berry bush you frequent, you'll want to know five ways to get there, and five ways to get back. If you hear a sound to the right, you'll already know a safe way to skirt it and get there from your left. And if something is after you, you'll already know different ways to get back to cover. You won't have to figure it out in the moment, and those moments of problem solving may be the difference in life or death."

Mulberry swallowed a lump in his throat, that sounded like an awful lot of thinking. He wasn't sure his mind could process all that at once. Likens momentary expression of seriousness flashed back to his usual soft smile. "Don't worry," he said, "it'll come with time. For now, you just have to find your way back to the burrow."

* * *

Mulberry had underestimated that task. He'd been confident at first, but now everything looked the same. He felt a swell of panic slowly growing inside of him. Calm down, he told himself, there are things out there that want to eat me and my racing heart isn't helping anything. He pushed his way under some loosened tree roots and laid down a moment to collect himself. He hadn't been given much training yet though to really reflect on, and he wondered to himself if what Liken had asked him to do was really fair. He sighed, fair or not, this was the place he was in.

He pushed himself flat and squeezed back out of his hiding spot. The setting sun shown rays of light through the trunks of the towering forest trees. Mulberry felt so very small. He blinked into the light, and took a moment to look around. There were no sounds, but the rustle of the leaves. He sniffed the air, he wished he knew how to scent his way home. Maybe I can try, he talked himself up.

He put his nose to the ground and gave a big sniff. Dirt, he smelt dirt. He shook his head. Try harder, he told himself. He sniffed again, he could smell the sweetness of the blackberry that stained his front paws, he could smell the sharp scent of grass and wet moss. But mostly, he still just smelt dirt. He cursed to himself, muttering under his breath.

A deafening shriek came from somewhere above, Mulberry's blood turned to ice and he flattened himself to the ground. He froze, his mind was working a million paces a moment and standing still at the same time. He felt a rush of wind hit his body and the sun was suddenly blocked out by a dark blur of wings. One moment talons were reaching out for him, then next they were not.

Feathers fell all around, shrieks - one echoing another - two bodies of dark angry feathers and talons slashing at each other in the grass. Another falcon had rammed into the side of the first, the two were now trying to get back on their feet, fighting each other in cries and beats of wings in a struggle to recover themselves. Mulberry still froze, watching with panic.

"Run!" Mulberry's eyes flicked to the source of a familiar voice. Liken was dashing across the clearing. In an instant he reached him, he grabbed him by the scruff like a nestling and hauled him away, Mulberry closed his eyes in fear. The battle cries of the massive birds still ringing through the trees.

* * *

Liken paced in front of Mulberry, his fir was on end and he bristled with anger. Mulberry hadn't seen this side of him before, it terrified him. They were back in the stump, every shadow there watching with curious eyes. Mulberry kept his eyes down, his heart still racing from his near death experience.

He remembered bits and pieces, but it was all a bit of a blur. He remembered the force of the second bird crashing into the side of the first, their screeches. He remembered Liken dragging him off, his scruff fur bled still, he was really much too big to be pulled like that through the forest, and Liken hadn't been gentile with him either. He remembered a point where he regained his footing and ran alongside Liken. But the rest was a blur.

"You were just standing there!" Liken reeled on him, and Mulberry flinched. "Look at me!" Mulberry could hear his teeth grinding, he looked up and met his mentors angry eyes. He felt his own eyes watering.

"I..I'm sorry." He choked out weakly.

Liken wrinkled his nose in disgust, "You're sorry," he spat, "well doesn't that make it all better. You would have died!" his voice raised again, and he turned, contenting his pacing. Mulberry caught Aspen's eyes behind his pacing mentor, they looked sorry. Mulberry looked back down.

"Do you have no instinct at all?" Liken growled at him, he'd stopped in front of him once more, but Mulberry couldn't raise his head again to meet his eyes. Tears were swelling in his own. Liken let out a heavy sigh and turned on him and left through the entrance of the stump. Mulberry watched him go, and watched Aspen follow after him, before collapsing onto the dirt floor and curling into a ball.

He felt everyones eyes on him still, and he choked back sobs. Flick and Umber were the only ones brave enough to go to him.

"What happened?" It was Umber who spoke.

"There, there were falcons. At least, at least I think they were falcons." Mulberry choked out.

Flick laid down next to him but still said nothing, his brothers warmth and scent was overwhelmingly comforting in that moment, and he was grateful for it. He knew Flick wasn't good at handling heavy situations, but he appreciated him trying. He felt his brothers small pink tung begin work on cleaning the blood from his neck.

After a moment, Umber laid down close to him too, but their flanks didn't touch. He rested his head on his paws so his face was close to Mulberrys. "Liken said you just stood there." he said after a few minutes, "why didn't you run?"

Mulberry sniffled, "I, I don't know." he admitted. " I was scared, I was terrified, but.. I just couldn't run."

He looked up and saw Umber frown. He didn't seem to know what to say.

"Is something wrong with me?" Mulberry asked in a small voice.

Umber said nothing.

"No," It was Flick who spoke, "Nothing is wrong with you, brother."


	10. Chapter 9

**Another day another chapter! I feel like I'm doing half decent at updates, better - at least! It has been quite the day. I had to drive two hours out to do a simple sign off on the electrical stuff for our new house, then got turned around and went east instead of west, and ended up having to back track four hours to get home! I. am. exhausted. So, I apologize if this chapter is awful, but I do hope it isn't too terribly dreadful. Okay, thats enough rambling for me. I ramble when I'm over tired. Oh, and please, anyone who has been reading along with my updates and hasn't already favorited/followed my story please do! It would mean the world to me!**

 **Skyfern, so great to have you back. Thanks for all your comments, I love hearing from you! Alas, my spelling is and always has been atrocious. My lack of any real form of spell check (aside from autocorrect, which I think is more of a hindrance than anything else) here doesn't help. Thanks for pointing those things out, I will see if I can go back and fix them! I'm glad you're continuing to enjoy the story, I hope it keeps your interest! This next few chapters are going to be a bit less action packed, but I need to flesh in some characters and relationships more. Anyways, hope you like this chapter!**

 **Onto the story ~**

* * *

Mulberry added another trips worth of dried grass to the pile, spitting out little pieces that stuck to his tongue. He'd spent the better half of the day working at, and still his pile was barely big enough to use as a nest. He let out a sigh and sat down to rest a moment.

It had been ten sunrises sense the incident, and still he hadn't spoken with his mentor or been allowed out with training groups. He'd been assigned one dull task after another. Today, it was carrying dried grass from the store room to the healers burrow. The store room, as they called it, was actually quite impressive. Until a few days ago, he hadn't even known of its existence. He frowned, he had missed part of the tour on his first day as a shadow, after all.

He stood back up and left the healers burrow, trotting through the tunnel that took him back to the belly of the great burrow. He paused a moment where the tunnel forked and led to the nurse mouses burrow. Despite how much time he had spent in the Great Burrow the past few days, he hadn't visited his mother once. He didn't want to, he reminded himself, and continued on with a grunt.

From the belly of the Great Burrow, another tunnel led off towards the store room. Mulberry followed the path he had already taken so many times before, his paws leading him along without having to give it any thought. The store room was quite a bit bigger than the healers burrow. The walls were hard caked dirt, packed into place long ago. Piles of little red berries, the kind that seemed to last forever, and seeds and other tasty morsels were stacked so high they brushed the spindling roots that held up the muddy ceiling. In another corner, dried grass and moss were collected in sorted piles. There was everything a mouse could need to survive for many season cycles. Everything, he thought, except for water. There was some damp moss that had been brought in that morning by Scuttle and another shadow Mulberry hadn't been introduced to yet, but it wasn't much. It would last the day, for the elders and the nurse mice and the healer. And the little sickly scrap of fur in there with her, Mulberry added to himself with a soft smile.

He'd spent a lot of time with the funny little thing lately, and he had to admit he'd become fond of him. The healer, Juniper, wasn't sure what was wrong with him. None of her herbs helped, and he never seemed to get better. But wasn't contagious at least.

For the little nestling, some days were better than others. Some days, he slept while Mulberry worked away sorting herbs or carrying grasses. Other days, he would be up and following Mulberry about the burrow and jabbering away. He had a contagious personality, and Mulberry found it eye opening that such a sickly young mouse could have such a cheery outlook on the world.

Today, however, was not a good day. When Mulberry returned to the healers burrow with another mouth full of bedding, his little body was seizing. He spat out the bedding and hollered to the healer, "Juniper!"

The old blind she-mouse hobbled out quite quickly despite her stiff gait. "Oh no, not again.." she said more to herself than to anyone else. Mulberry had already rolled the nestling onto his side as he'd learned to do. He stepped aside when Juniper got to him. "no, no," she went on nervously, "come now little nestling, now, now."

His little body spasmed once more then went limp. Mulberry watched his flank for breaths, and they came - slowly, but they came. He was asleep now, quivering slightly as if in a bad dream. It always happened like that. Mulberry couldn't explain it, and neither could Juniper, so they just watched over him and did what they could.

"They're getting longer." the old mouse said, stepping away from the nestling with a shake of her head and sitting down a few paces off. It was uncanny to Mulberry the way she would look at him, despite her blindness. Her ears were always swiveling, and Mulberry knew she could sense where he was, but it was still unnerving.

Mulberry said nothing, he wasn't sure what to say. He curled up next to the nestling and licked between his ears, as he often did after an episode. It seemed to help his shakes and calm his breathing. Mulberry felt sad for him, and he realized that he'd never seen the nestlings mother visit.

"Where is his mother?" He asked Juniper, without looking up at her. There was no reason to meet her gaze after all, he reminded himself.

"Abandoned him." She said with a shrug, "she had other nestlings, healthy ones, she really didn't have a choice."

And that was true, Mulberry knew. Leaving her healthy nestlings behind in their burrow for long periods of time to visit this one, well, they all might die. And perhaps she, like Mulberry had for a long time, believed that the nestling was contagious. He understood why she might want to keep him away from her healthy nestlings. "I wish the elders would give him a name at least." He said after a moment.

"That is not their way," she said, "he won't make it though the season cycle, if it continues like this. And the next naming ceremony wont be until leaf fall comes."

"You'd think they would make an exception." Mulberry watched the little scrap of grey fur sleeping, his shakes had stopped at least.

"That's not their way." Juniper said again, then stood to go back to her work. Mulberry sighed and looked over the nestlings head to the pile of bedding he'd been working on. He still had a good bit to go before he was through, then he would have to distribute it between Junipers nest and, well, _his_ nest, then sort out the bad bedding and cary it out as well.

"You really aught to have a name." He said quietly to the nestling, "I'd like to stop just calling you "him' or 'he' all the time." As if he were listening in his sleep, the little nestling smiled a bit. Mulberry smiled too. Well, he thought to himself, best get back to work. I have a lot to do before the last patrol of the night comes around.

* * *

The last patrol came by just as Mulberry was finishing up his work for the day. He trotted over to meet them where they stood by the great root. Scuttle and the other shadow were talking to themselves, the forager who had been with them was sitting a pace away and yawning. Scuttle looked to Mulberry as he approached, her face its usual brooding expression. "Hi Scuttle." He said, and offered a warm smile. She flicked her tail but said nothing. Mulberry turned his gaze to the other shadow who she had been talking with. "Hi," he said, "I'm Mulberry."

The other shadow was cheerier than Scuttle, quite easily. He smiled at Mulberry and wiggled his ears a bit, "They call me Dash," he said, "I was born the same season as Scuttle, but she's still a bit older."

"You guys done chatting?" Came a gruff voice, Mulberry turned to see the forager who had come in with Scuttle and Dash. He must be Dash's mentor, he thought to himself.

Mulberry nodded, "Yes," he said, "sorry." he padded closer to the forager to report to him, "all the stores are good, there's still plenty of water for everyone tonight. We should be good to head out."

The forager simply gave a grunt. "Alright," he said, already walking away, "lets get back, it's getting dark already."

* * *

"What did you guys do today?" Mulberry asked Scuttle and Dash as they shuffled back in to the stump.

The three walked together to where some food was kept off to the side and Mulberry watched as Dash sat debating a moment over what to grab.

"Nothing of much interest." Scuttle said, seeming uninterested herself in the conversation. She grabbed a plump berry for herself and bit into it, the purple - black juice staining her light paws and face.

Mulberry grabbed a recently killed grub for himself and sat down close to her. "Cmon'" he pleaded, "I wan't to hear, I'm so bored all the time."

"Not my fault you went and tried to get yourself killed," she snarked at him, "I bet Liken will leave you on soiled moss duty forever."

Mulberry bit back a rude retort.

"We spent a lot of the day just scouting places out." Dash said, sitting down with them, he had chosen a fat little worm. "And some time bringing wet moss to the great burrow and back here, too. Scuttle's right, it really wasn't a very interesting day."

Mulberry frowned down at his half eaten grub. What he would give to just get out and explore for the day. He wanted to learn new things and see new places.

"You look even more sour than Scuttle," Dash said, "you get a rotten grub or something?"

"Huh? Oh, no, nothing like that." Mulberry said, pawing at the grub. He didn't have much of an appetite. "I'm just sick of being cooped up. Maybe Scuttle is right, maybe I will be stuck doing this forever."

Dash shrugged, "I doubt it." He said. He tilted his head a bit, looking past Mulberry, "maybe you'll be back out there sooner than you think." He said.

Mulberry turned his head to see Liken approaching them, he felt his fur flush hot under his pelt. He put his ears flat, readying himself to be yelled at again. But Liken didn't yell. He stared at Mulberry for a moment with a blank expression, then said simply, "come with me."

Mulberry did as he was told.

The two walked to a more private spot and Liken sat down. Mulberry hesitantly sat as well, keeping his eyes on his paws.

"I want to apologize." Liken said after what felt like a very long time. Mulberry looked up to him, surprised. "It's my fault that you were in that situation to begin with." He continued, "I shouldn't have given you so much freedom so quickly. I wont make that mistake again." He added sternly. Mulberry flattened his ears again, his eyes studying his paws once more.

He felt a gentle flick to his chin from Likens tail. "You can stop your pouting," He said, in a voice more himself, "we can get back to training." Mulberry looked at him, unconvinced, as if he thought this may be some kind of mean trick. Liken had always been so cheerful, up until the incident, and now Mulberry wasn't sure what to expect of him. Liken sighed, seeing Mulberry was still hesitating. "Look kid," he said, "you're my first shadow, I'm still learning, too. I didn't come around sooner because I was ashamed I put you in harms way like that. I thought you could handle yourself, but I guess I was wrong. We'll practice more, little things, and we'll figure it all out together, okay?"

Mulberry studied his mentors face a moment longer, then nodded, "Okay."


	11. Chapter 10

**Finished another chapter, it's shorter than I'd like but I want to get something out. I know it's been a few days. It took me a lot of time to make the cover art, I can only see it on the desktop version so I'll get you guys a link to it. I drew it all up on my tablet, I'm quite proud of myself. It actually doesn't look awful! I hope you guys like it too. I'm having to break the link up with parentheses so it doesn't get deleted, hopefully you guys can figure it out! At the end there, after the 3, is a lower case L not a one, I got hung up on that for a while.**

 **Link to cover art: (** **http)(:)(/)(/)(tinypic).com(/r/16)(c5s3l/9)**

 **MapleleafOfThunderClan, I'm excited to use her, it was a great idea for a character! I should have her making an appearance soonish, some time in the next few chapters. I have so many characters to introduce still!**

 **Skyfern, thanks for your comments! There will be some more stuff in the next chapter with the fluff ball (poor thing really needs a name so I can stop calling him that) and probably Mulberry's mother as well.**

 **I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Oh, and bad news for me but good for you guys - My fiance is going out of town for work for a week so I will be all by my lonesome and likely will be writing a bunch more. So, yay for more frequent updates!**

 **Onto the story ~**

* * *

Liken was trying, it was obvious enough. He kept a smile on his face. But he was still tense. Mulberry would catch him grinding his teeth discretely now and then, and he seemed easily flustered as if he kept doubting himself.

They'd been exploring the forest, something the other shadows had started a while ago. While the other shadows already knew all the best spots for hiding and foraging, Mulberry knew only the way between the stump and the great burrow, and how to get to a nearby blackberry thicket. Even then, knowing these things didn't matter much when his mentor hovered over him constantly and refused to let him off on his own.

Mulberry had only pressed it once, a few days ago when Umber had asked him to join him in collecting grubs for the elders. "I know the way now," he'd insisted, "and Umber will be with me. He's a second season." But Liken had just shaken his head and told him he wasn't ready. Mulberry sighed thinking about it, it seemed that all the other shadows, even the first seasons, were becoming more independent. Being sent on different tasks and trusted with important jobs. All the while Mulberry was babysat like a wide-eyed nestling trying to sneak out of its birth-burrow. He scowled at his paws.

"Are you paying attention?"

Mulberry looked up, Liken had been telling him about a tall flowering plant with soft purple bells. He hadn't caught all of it, but he got the important part. "It'll kill you," he said simply. Like everything else you've been teaching me about, he added to himself.

Liken frowned for a heartbeat before he regained his soft smile. It looked effortless, his smile, but Mulberry knew it wasn't. Not anymore at least, not with me. "Well," he said, "yes. If you eat it, it will. Healers use it in small doses as medicine, but too much and your heart will beat so fast you'll die."

"Right," Mulberry said with a slight snarkiness to his tone, "everything in want's me dead, even the plants"

Liken sighed, his smile turned into worry lines in his brow. "I'm trying." he said with a heaviness in his voice, "To keep you safe."

The dusty drown forager pushed his way through the tall grass they had been sheltering in, he looked much older than he had a moon ago. Much more tired, too. Mulberry frowned and scratched at the dirt before slinking after him.

For a long while, they walked in silence, weaving through the tall strands of tan grass. Liken's pelt camouflaged him almost perfectly in this light, so mulberry followed his long brown tail. The wind whistled around them, making the tips of the grass dance and shimmer a beautiful gold when the sun hit it. It was peaceful. Mulberry breathed in the warming scent of dead grass and hot dirt and let his mind begin to wonder.

He thought about Liken first, about how off he had been, and how uncomfortable training had been the past few days. He thought briefly that maybe it had been better before, less awkward at least, when he had been just helping around the great burrow. That made him think of the nameless nestling he'd grown to care for, he missed the little scrap. He hoped he was okay, and he felt a pang of guilt when he thought of him shaking in his sleep without anyone to lick between his ears and make him feel safe. Then, he thought about his friends. They'd all been so busy with more important things lately, Mulberry had hardly seen them. While their bonds seemed to be deepening with each other, Mulberry felt he was only growing more distant to each of them. He shook his head, trying to clear all of his thoughts entirely.

Liken had stopped in front of him and Mulberry, caught unaware, almost bowled into the back of him.

The forager didn't move. Cautiously, Mulberry pushed his way up next to his mentor to try to catch a glimpse for himself of whatever it was that had stopped Liken in his paw steps. He kept low to the ground, matching his mentors' stance, and ever so cautiously pushed the final bit forward to peer out into the clearing ahead.

The clearing was heavily shaded by overhead trees. Mulberry wondered if that was the reason the grass didn't grow. The ground was hard-packed dirt, dry and dusty in the heat of the afternoon sun. But it wasn't the clearing that was particularly peculiar, but what was sitting in the center of it. A small silver-grey shape remained unmoving, entirely out in the open. Small round ears swiveled about. Mulberry sniffed the air again. A she-mouse, what's she doing out there?

The clearing was very still, even the wind and the grass seemed to stop moving around them. Then, in the midst of the calm, a great blur shot across the clearing. Another mouse, darker than the first, with blaring red eyes like Mulberry hadn't ever seen before. He charged at the she-mouse, and Mulberry thought with certainty that she was doomed. It was uncommon for mice to go after each other, but it wasn't unheard of for a male mouse to go after a female during her season. It was something Mulberry heard wonderers did, but it rarely happened within the colony. It was a savagery the elder mice didn't permit.

Mulberry watched with a lump in his throat, but the male didn't pin her as he had expected. The two bodies rolled in the dirt, then separated and circled each other, then collided again. They were fighting, he realized, but he'd never seen mice fight before. They fought like the falcons had, or sort of at least. The first mouse, he noticed, had the same red eyes, and as the two mice circled he noticed a grin on her face. They were talking to each other, but they were too far away for Mulberry to make out their words. Did they know each other? Mulberry tried to get their scents again but he couldn't, they'd thrown up too much dust in their tussle.

Mulberry looked to Liken, but his face looked as blank and confused as Mulberry imagined his own was. There was a thump, and a cloud of dust lifted into the air. When it cleared, Mulberry saw the lighter mouse on top of the male, she'd pinned him down with two paws to his chest, her red eyes gleaming triumphantly. But she let him up, and the two just sat down together and started to talk quietly to each other. What on earth are they doing?

Mulberry felt a cold nose to his shoulder and almost jumped. Liken gave him a look that told him to follow, and the two quietly backed out of earshot and skirted the clearing. Mulberry wondered if Liken would say anything, but as usual, they kept quiet as they walked. That was what was safest. But maybe also, it could have been that Liken wasn't sure what to say about it either.

* * *

"Were those wonderers?" Mulberry asked Liken back in the stump. Liken nodded, he looked deep in thought. Mulberry wondered what he was thinking. "Are you going to tell the elder mice?" he asked.

Liken shook his head slowly, "No," he said, "I don't think so. What wonderers do is none of our business." He seemed to Mulberry though like he was trying to convince himself of his words.

"They were fighting." Mulberry said, "Mice don't fight." He wondered what his mentor would say to that. Mulberry knew the mouse way, and it certainly had nothing to do with fighting. It had much to do with hiding and cowering and fleeing, but nothing to do with fighting.

"What the wonderers do doesn't concern us." Liken said again, his town more certain. He let out a long breath and scanned the stump. "You should eat, and rest, we will start again early tomorrow."

Mulberry nodded, "Okay," he said. He didn't ask what they'd be doing in the morning, he knew it would be more of the same. Then, a thought came to him. "Hey Liken," he called after his mentor, who had begun to walk off, "do you think we could go to the great burrow tomorrow?"

Liken cocked his head to the side a bit, "Why?" he asked.

"I want to check on someone," he said, "someone I was helping Juniper tend to."

Liken nodded, but his look was still suspicious. "Sure," he said, "we can take food to the elders in the afternoon. And you can check on your friend."

Mulberry smiled, "Thanks Liken." The forager nodded then trotted off to talk with Aspen who had just returned with Flick. Flick caught sight of Mulberry at the same time and headed over to join him.

"Hey brother," Flick said, grinning ear to ear.

"What are you grinning about?" Mulberry asked, unable to hold back a bit of a laugh. Flick was practically bursting with joy.

"Oh Mulberry," he said, "I think I'm in love."

Mulberry raised an eyebrow, "with who? Fawn?" The little brown mouse from their naming ceremony had been the only she-mouse he'd ever heard his brother say anything about before. He looked around for her and spotted her with a few other she-mice eating berries together. She had been looking at them but looked away quickly when Mulberry met her gaze.

"Fawn?" Flick laughed, "No, but between you and me I think she might like you brother."

Mulberry shook his head in disbelief, "What? Why would you think that?" Mulberry's ears felt hot, she was pretty, but he'd never really given she-mice much thought before.

"She looks at you a lot." Flick said bluntly, "You really are hopeless aren't you?" Mulberry knew he was teasing, but it was true.

"Enough of that, you must be imagining things." Mulberry nudged his brother affectionately, "tell me about this she-mouse you're in love with."

"Her name's Rose, she's a second season. Before Aspen took me training this afternoon I was sent out to collect bedding with her. We got grass and feathers and all kinds of stuff, and we talked all morning." Flick was glowing, and Mulberry couldn't help be a bit amused. He was as head over heels as a silly she-mouse. He wondered if this Rose was as enthralled as Flick was.

"I'm happy for," Mulberry said, "Are you going to tell her how you feel?"

* * *

Mulberry and Flick had been sitting and talked together for a long while. At one point Umber had come over to shared stories about his day of training. Flick had told Umber about Rose with the same enthusiasm as he had told Mulberry. He had rolled over onto his back and stared up at the splintering wood above with such a fond gaze on his face that it made Mulberry smile. When the sun had set and night had fallen, Umber left to go to bed. Mulberry and Flick talked a bit longer, about she-mice and training and memories from their birth-burrow, but Mulberry never brought up what he had seen in the clearing. For some reason, he wasn't sure he should tell anyone about it. And when he went to bed that night he found himself lost in thoughts, images of red eyes and the blur of fur, tangled in battle, clouding his mind. What were they doing?


	12. Chapter 11

**I saw the new lion king tonight. Coming from someone who has seen that movie hundreds of times and has every single moment memorized, the things they changed bother me a bit. But, if I didn't have it memorized, it wouldn't have bothered me. And, well, it was beautiful. So, all in all very inspiring. It's a shame it's so late I want to write now! I will write a bit! Whew, I am soooo tired. Finished about a third of this chapter, looking like it's going to be a longer one possibly. I'll get to the rest tomorrow.**

 **Okay, so this chapter took a few days but it's a long one! For me, at least! Being on my own the past few days have been harder than I expected, I've been too depressed to write most nights and when I try to force it my writing is just dark and sad. So, I give up and try again later. Bare with me guys!**

 **MapleleafOfThunderClan, you're too sweet thank you! I worked really hard on it, I'm glad you like it! I guess it is pretty different, I'm not sure it is good enough to be published though! I need to spend more time on building scenes and giving detailed descriptions. I am hoping though that in writing this story my writing gets better over time. And sure I'd love to join your forum! Tell me how I can join!**

 **TheMoonClanner, I had no idea baby mice were called pups. I really should have done some research before I started writing this haha! I'm so glad you like the cover art, I worked so hard at it! I don't have many plans for Rose yet, so I will definitely keep those ideas in mind for her. As for the rest, you will just have to wait and see! Hope you enjoy this late but longer update!**

 **Onto the story ~**

* * *

The rain had started sometime in the night and had gone on unrelenting until late morning. It was unusual for there to be rain the long sun season, and excitement had buzzed amongst the shadows all morning. With Mulberry being a first season and having never been out in the rain before, he'd been held back inside with a handful of other first seasons until the rain had stopped.

"Keep up," Liken said softly to Mulberry as he scampered ahead and over a tree root. Mulberry clambered after him, digging his claws into the bark of the root and pulling himself up and over. It looked effortless the way Liken maneuvered the forest. For Mulberry, however, it was a bit less graceful. He was much smaller and less sure-footed than his mentor.

Liken pushed his way under a cluster of blackberry thorns and Mulberry followed. Together they stopped a minute, Mulberry completely out of breath. Liken drank from a puddle of water that had formed from the rain, beads of water sticking to his whiskers and shimmering in the light that filtered through the thorns. Mulberry looked up, the sun was back out, but it wasn't so hot like it had been lately. And the air felt moist and smelt deliciously fresh and crisp.

Mulberry joined his mentor by the puddle and took a drink, then sat up on his back legs and ran wet paws over his fuzzy round ears and through the short thick fur of his face. The water felt cool and refreshing, and Mulberry thought it was nice to not feel dusty for once. He thought about rolling in the puddle to dampen his fur all over, but Liken interrupted his thoughts.

"When it rains in the forest, there are many new things to be aware of." The brown mouse said, running a paw over his left ear as Mulberry had been doing a moment before. He shook his head and a few drops of water flew and hit the dirt, leaving a dark spot for a moment before fading again.

"Everything smells different, for one." He continued, "Try now, tell me what you smell."

Mulberry sniffed the air, closing his eyes as he often did when he was trying to pick up a scent so that it was easier for him to focus.

"Don't do that," Mulberry opened his eyes to see Liken shaking his head, "If you close your eyes every time you try to catch a scent out in the forest you'll be running into everything. Now," he asked again, "what do you smell?"

Mulberry breathed in the air again, keeping his eyes open this time. Liken was right, everything did smell different. He could see the blackberries clinging to the thickets around him but he couldn't smell them, or if he could they didn't smell the same. He couldn't catch the sticky-sweet scent they usually had when they were hot under the beating sun. There was still a bit of a tang in the air though. He got closer to one and inspected it, sniffing it all around. He could smell it, but it really did smell different. Even the dirt, he realized, smelt different.

"You're right," Mulberry said, "Everything is off."

Liken dug at the earth, the dirt on top wasn't muddy but it was damp. But as he dug, a familiar dusty scent hit Mulberry. "You smell it now?" Liken asked, looking up to Mulberry with dirt stuck to the left side of his face where it had been wet.

Mulberry nodded, "It's different, but the same too." He wasn't sure if what he said had made sense, even to himself.

"Things will sound different too," Liken added, running a paw over his ear again, "When the rain is falling everything is drowned out by the sound of water hitting the leaves and the rocks and the ground. You must find a way to tune out the sounds of the rain and focus on what is hiding behind it."

Mulberry nodded.

"The next time it rains we will work on that." Liken said, looking up to the sun filtering down on them and seemingly coming to the conclusion that the rain had passed for good for now. "Now where was I? things will smell different, and sound different. Oh yes, and look different too. In the thick of a storm, it is harder to see. Rain will get in your eyes and cloud them, and the fog and rain can be so thick that it can blanket the entire forest. A predator could be a mouse length ahead of you and you may not be able to see, hear, or smell them."

A shiver ran down Mulberry's spine at that. Liken smiled reassuringly. "It's okay," he said, "You have plenty of time before leaf fall comes. Until then, the rain will come few and far between." He stood and licked his side, wet dirt stuck all to his belly and part of his side from how he had been sitting. He cursed quietly to himself. "I do hate the rain and the mud and always being dirty."

Mulberry tried to clean himself up quickly to no avail, he would groom himself back at the stump. "Is there still time to visit the Great Burrow today?" Mulberry asked his mentor.

Liken nodded, "Yes," he said, "that's it for training today, let's head back to the stump for now. I have a task for you and Umber first."

Mulberry cocked his head, did that mean he was going to be sent out without Liken? He felt a surge of excitement course through him at the thought of going off on an important errand, just him and Umber.

* * *

"What's our special task?" Mulberry asked when they were back inside the stump and Umber had joined them.

Liken was still trying to get his fur clean from their outing. He paused between licks to fluff his fur with a shake. "I need you to collect some food for the elder mice before we head to the Great Burrow." He told them. "Mulberry," he looked to his shadow, "you remember where the nearby blackberry thicket is that I showed you right?"

Mulberry nodded.

"Good." Liken seemed satisfied by this. "You two stick together and pick enough berries to feed the elders for a few days. I'll send a few other shadows shortly after you to help you bring back what you collect. We will head out together to the Great Burrow this afternoon."

After quick farewells, Mulberry and Umber pushed through the entrance of the stump and set off to the blackberry thicket, keeping silent as they walked. Mulberry kept an extra close eye on the sky as he darted from one hiding place to the next. It was a bit nerve-racking to be out of the stump without his mentor, but he had Umber at least, and Umber seemed confident. _He's a second season shadow,_ Mulberry reminded himself, _he knows what he's doing._

It wasn't long before they reached the thicket. Umber stepped aside to let Mulberry in first, and Mulberry breathed a breath of relief. He pushed his body as flat as he could and scratched his claws though the dirt, shimmying under the thorns and trying not to get his fur caught. He could feel the thorns around him move as Umber pushed his way in behind him, muffling a squeak when a thorn pulled at him.

Under the protection of the thorns, it was safe to talk. This was the same spot he had been with his mentor just a few hours before, but as the day had gone on the sun had gotten even hotter, and it seemed like an entirely different place. The puddle was gone, and so was the dew that had clung to the leaves and shone on the slick surface of the blackberries. Mulberry sniffed the air, remembering Likens lesson. The thicket smelt more like he was used to now, though the ground still had a damp scent to it.

"Ouch," Umber said to himself. Mulberry broke from his distracted state and looked to his friend to see what the matter was. Mulberry could smell the bitter iron scent of blood on his friend, but he couldn't see any blood.

"Are you okay?" Mulberry asked, getting closer to investigate. The tiniest bit of red-brown stained Umbers pelt on his side just above his shoulder. But otherwise, he seemed fine.

"Ya, I'm alright." Umber said, "stupid thorn got me."

Mulberry laughed a bit, "Snuck up on you, did it?"

Umber grinned. "Ya, ya," he said, standing and shaking out his fur, "let's get to work."

Umber was a gossip, Mulberry didn't mind though. His friend wasn't the most social mouse in the colony, but he sure had a way of listening and knowing every little thing that was going on. It was nice actually. Having been at the great burrow helping Juniper or under Likens paw constantly for the past moon Mulberry was a bit out of the loop. He listened contently as he plucked berries and added them to the pile.

"I think Dash has a thing for Scuttle," Umber went on, "He's always hanging around her, and doting on her." He shrugged, "I don't think the feeling is mutual though, Scuttle doesn't seem to like anyone but herself."

Mulberry frowned at that, "She's not so awful," He said, "I think she might just be lonely."

Umber stopped what he was doing and shook his head, "It's not like other shadows haven't tried to be her friend." He said, "She's just.. just mean."

Mulberry said nothing. Umber seemed to forget it and move on.

"You know the other four mice that were made shadows the same time as you?" Umber asked, without waiting for a response. "Fawn, Turnup, Twig, and Tumble. They're all way ahead in their training, I don't know how. They must just all be really smart. Frost told me that she was talking with Fawn's mentor, Dew, the other day and that they're already practicing burrow building. I didn't start to learn any of that until I was a second season."

"Really?" Mulberry felt a pit in his stomach, "I've just barely started exploring the forest and Liken still won't let me out on my own after, well, after what happened." Mulberry looked down to his little pink paws and studied them, embarrassed.

"You'll catch up," Umber said, "don't worry about it so much."

Mulberry still worried.

"Look at Peanut," Umber added, "He's been a second season for two seasons now. Frost said he'll probably still be held back again when the next ceremony comes."

That caught Mulberry's attention. "Yea, I met him the night of my shadow ceremony. What's his deal? He seems..." Mulberry wasn't sure how to word it. He had felt bad for the shadow and wanted to be his friend, it didn't seem like he really had any friends. All the other shadows teased him, and the few times Mulberry had tried to talk to him since that night he had been a bit awkward.

"Oh, he was a wanderer," Umber said, standing on his back legs and stretching out an arm to try to reach a particularly juicy-looking berry that was just out of his reach.

"No way," Mulberry gaped, "but, then how did he become a shadow?"

"I guess he was dropped off at the great burrow by his mother or something, or he found it himself, no one knows how he got there. He was old enough to talk, but he never told anyone where he came from or anything about his life, just that his name was Peanut. He was too old to need to nurse but the elders put him with the nurse mice anyway, because he wouldn't eat. He was awful picky I heard. I guess he still is a bit, I only ever really see him eating seeds."

Mulberry mulled over this, he thought about telling Umber about the strange wonderers him and Liken had stumbled across on their way back to the stump, but before he could he was interrupted by an impatient remark from Scuttle to whoever was coming in after her.

Mulberry turned to great them with a smile, "Hey," he called, "we have some berries here ready to be taken back, do you think this is enough?"

Scuttle walked up to the pile and looked at it, then continued walking right up to Mulberry so her nose was just a hair away from his. She looked at him through slits of eyes, she looked very angry, though Mulberry wasn't sure why. He felt his ears get hot, she was so close to him he could feel her breath on his face, his heart raced rather for fear of her biting off his nose or something else he wasn't sure.

"You two have been out here for how long? And this is all you've gotten." Her tone was level, almost like she was talking to a nestling that had disappointed her. She turned suddenly and almost flicked Mulberry with her tail as she trotted back to the pile and picked a berry up in her mouth. Without another word, she walked off.

"I guess that means we need to get more," Umber said, trying and failing miserably at holding back laughter. Mulberry's ears still felt hot. He looked down at his paws, embarrassed for some reason.

"I think you did a great job," a quiet voice came from beside Mulberry and he jumped. Fawn had come in after Scuttle, but he had forgotten about her after Scuttles show of disapproval. "both of you." the little tan mouse added, looking down at her paws.

Mulberry sidestepped to his right, what was with all these she-mice getting right up next to him? "Erm, thanks." He said to her, then addressed Umber, "we probably should get some more though."

Umber nodded and went back to work at trying to reach the same berry from before. Mulberry frowned, maybe if he spent less time trying to get the hard to get ones they'd have a better pile. _And Scuttle wouldn't have gotten mad at me,_ he added to himself.

"Would you like some help then?" Mulberry jumped again, Fawn was back by his side somehow closer than before. He gave her a frown and narrowed his eyes a bit.

"Um, no." He said lamely.

"If you can just help Scuttle start carrying stuff back that would be helpful," Umber added, "We can cover it here."

The little tan she-mouse looked rejected, her ears drooped a bit as she picked up a berry and headed back out of the thicket.

* * *

It was almost dusk before they left the stump and began the short treck to the Great Burrow. It was a larger traveling party than Mulberry was used to, but there were a lot of berries to carry. He and Umber had buckled down and worked faster after Scuttles retort, and between the two of them, they were able to gather enough berries for ten shadows to make the trip twice. Mulberry, however, was only allowed to make the first trip, what with Liken breathing down his neck and all.

The group was split up by twos, each smaller group darting ahead a few minutes before the next. Liken said it was safer to travel that way, not all in a big cluster, that being all together would make them easier to be found by predators. Of course, Mulberry was pared with Liken.

Mulberry tried to remember the groups. Umber had been pared with Scuttle, much to his detest. The little tan mouse, Fawn, had been paired up with one of her brothers, Twig. Dash had been paired with Tumble, and Flick had been paired up with Rose. Mulberry wondered if his brother had asked for that pairing.

When they finally reached the Great Burrow Mulberry dropped his berry at in the storeroom. Umber and Scuttle came in just after him and added their berries to the pile. Scuttle looked at the three berries unimpressed, and walked out. Mulberry felt his fur prickle, "What's her problem?" he growled when she'd left the room. "There'll be more berries here soon if she'd just wait for a minute. She doesn't have to be so prickly all the time."

Umber laughed, "you'd better hope she didn't hear you say that."

Mulberry felt his face flush, "I wasn't loud." he retorted.

"You weren't quiet either," Umber pointed out with a shrug. Mulberry studied his paws. Umber nudged him, "What do you care anyway, let's get out of here."

The two walked through the tunnel single file that led from the storeroom, passing Twig and Fawn. They had to squeeze by each other to get through, and Mulberry found himself wondering why they didn't make the tunnels a bit wider. Twig shouldered himself past quite roughly, while his sister quietly brushed past, she was smaller so she didn't have to bowl into them so much, and Mulberry noticed her fur was much softer than her brothers. He caught her eyes as she passed, but she quickly looked away.

"I'm going to head to the nurse mouse's burrow," Mulberry told Umber back in the belly of the Great Burrow. He took in a deep breath, happy to not be so crowded as it had been in the tunnel.

"Alright," Umber said, touching noses with him, "see you in a bit, friend."

Mulberry nodded and scampered off, he knew he had to be quick if he wanted to see the little scrap of fur before the group left to head back to the stump. He trotted down the tunnel that led to the healer's burrow, feeling a bit claustrophobic to be back in another tight space.

He had expected the nestling to great him excitedly, but he didn't. Mulberry's eyes searched the burrow but there was no sign of him. He walked towards the nest where he had slept, where he had struggled thought fit after fit. Mulberry's steps and heart felt heavy. The nest was cold and smelt only of dead grass.

Mulberry felt his body shake and felt tears welling in his eyes. "No," he said to himself, "no."

He ran around the burrow, frantically sniffing at the other beds, none of them had been used recently. "Juniper!" he called frantically, pacing in a tight circle and scratching at the ground, unable to control the flood of emotions.

The old blind mouse came to him from the side burrow where she slept. "Oh, Mulberry," she said, "you came back."


	13. Chapter 12

**Okay, I have an hour and a half to write and some good music and bubbly flavored water. Here goes nothing!**

 **So, I'd just like to say that every time I type nurse mice my software I am using pops up with a little helper and says "Do you mean nude mice?" No. No, I don't mean 'nude mice'.**

 **Okay, so be prepared for all the feels, this chapter is pretty heavy. But I hope you guys like it, I am quite proud of myself for getting not one but TWO chapters out today! Also struggling with something, maybe you guys can give me some advice here. When I say 'nurse mices burrow' I can't figure out the best way to say that. Because nurse mouses burrow I'm not sure sounds right either. What do you guys think?**

 **WildxPaws, thank you so much for commenting, I'm so excited to have a new reader! Yes, shadows are the same thing as apprentices. I tried to change the wording up a bit. I hope you are enjoying my story so far and continue to read!**

 **Skyfern, I think I missed your review somehow in my last chapter post. But I did see it! Thank you for your sweet words, I have actually gone through two pints of ice cream so far haha! It's been rough, but I'm doing a little better today. I love your names, I am actually going to use one of them for one of the characters here soon but I can't say who without dropping a spoiler!**

 **Onto the story ~**

* * *

Mulberry stood trembling, the old blind mouse looking right through him. "What, what happened?" he choked out finally.

Juniper tilted her head slightly, "Whatever has you so upset?" she asked with a frown. She walked closer to him and touched her nose to a wet tear on his cheek.

"What, where, I don't..." Mulberry couldn't make the words come out. He couldn't move. This was all his fault, had he come to visit again sooner, maybe then he could have said goodbye at least.

"Now, now," the old she mouse shook her head, "don't get ahead of yourself."

Mulberry gaped at her, "What do you mean?" he asked, he felt a spark of hope dance in his chest. Was he still alive? If he was, where was he? Why wouldn't he be here, he had always been here.

"He's fine," Juniper said, with a snap of impatience edging into her tone. She wasn't the most sympathetic creature. "He's with the nurse mice now, there's nothing more I can do for him, and I'm too old and busy to keep track of a nesting who doesn't need to be here."

Mulberry felt angry and relieved all at once. He wanted to yell at her, she was the closest thing to a mother the nestling had ever had. And she just abandoned him, as his mother had done. But he was alive. He was alive! Mulberry turned without another word and ran through the tunnel, the dirt scraping his ears as his paws carried him as fast as they could.

"Mulberry!"

Mulberry froze in place, standing in the entrance of the nurse mouse's den. The little nestling ran to him, bright-eyed and full of life. _So alive._ Mulberry pressed his head into his neck fur, tears welling in his eyes. Mulberry could feel the nestlings tiny nose nuzzling into his own neck fur, and his warmth radiating into him.

"What's wrong?" the little mouse asked, pulling back to look at Mulberry with worried eyes. His eyes were grey, much lighter than most mice, and they held such innocence and purity. Mulberry nuzzled him again then let out a breath he thought he must have been holding for a very long time.

"Nothing little one," he said with a soft smile. The little mouse perked up again and bounced around Mulberry.

"Come look," he chirped, "Juniper said I can live with the nurse mice, isn't it nice here? It's so much better than being in the healers burrow with all those yucky herbs and Juniper always nagging at me. Come on, come meet everyone."

Mulberry nodded to him, but as he started to skip off ahead Mulberry's eyes caught his mothers. She'd been watching from her nest, Mulberry hadn't even thought of her in all that had happened. How many times had he passed the tunnel to the nurse mice's den and refused to turn down it? How many times had he thought of her and tried to push the thoughts away? How many times had he said he didn't need her anymore? He took a heavy breath and crossed the burrow to her.

"This is River." The nestling said, introducing Mulberry to his own mother, unknowingly. Mulberry remained silent. "They all take care of me but she's my favorite. Juniper told her how you would lay with me when, well, when..." the little mouse trailed off, "she does too! She's the best. It's so much better here." the little mouse trailed on, but Mulberry stopped listening. It hit him suddenly how wrong he had been. All the time he had spent hating her for being a nurse mouse, even though it hadn't been her choice. He had hated her for... for what? His mother's words echoed through his mind 'We love them because no one else ever will.'

Mulberry swallowed a lump in his throat. "I was wrong." he choked out to her. His mother looked so much older, so much more tired, than he had remembered. Her mouth gaped, she looked like she might cry.

"Wrong about what Mulberry?" the little nestlings soft voice had come from beside him.

Mulberry let out a breath and crouched down so he was face to face with him. "I said something awful once. I was upset and confused, and I... I didn't understand. But now I do." The little mouse looked confused but didn't say anything else. Mulberry stood and touched noses with his mother. He thought she might crumble beneath his touch, and he wondered with a pang in his heart how much his words must have been hurting her. She looked like she hadn't slept since.

"I'm sorry, mother." he said, "thank you for taking care of him. You were right, thank you for loving him."

She said nothing, but nodded, eyes watering.

"Mother?" The little nestling said, "no way, she's your momma Mulberry? Why's she here? Juniper said only she-mice that couldn't have their own babies became nurse mice."

Mulberry ground his teeth, _why'd he have to go and say that?_

"Sometimes," his mother spoke for the first time in a weak voice, she sounded nothing like the cheery little mouse he'd grown up with, "well, sometimes it's more complicated than that," she said carefully. She looked to Mulberry, and he nodded for her to continue. He could hear this, he needed to.

"I had my first litter in the snowfall season, the snowfall season is very hard on new nestlings." she sighed, and Mulberry could see the pain of loss in her eyes, "my babies didn't make it, not long enough to see their naming day." Mulberry paced to her side and laid down, resting his head comfortingly on her back. "My second litter, I had five nestlings. They were too small, they... they were weak, and I lost three of them the first night." Her eyes were distant, and Mulberry could feel her breaths coming unevenly.

"The elders were worried that if I had another litter, they would come to the same fate." She said, clearing her throat and snapping out of her daze, though Mulberry could see she was still fighting tears. "It is our way, some things in life just happen for a reason. You needed me little one, and now I can help you."

This seemed to satisfy the little scrap of fur. He smiled, regaining his usual chipper composure. Mulberry wondered briefly if he reminded his mother of Flick, they had the same bubbly personality.

"Would you mind giving us a minute?" Mulberry asked him, trying to keep his voice level. The nestling looked confused but nodded and ran off to play with another nestling a bit younger than him. Mulberry recognized it. "Is that one of the ones from before?" He asked his mother, remembering his last encounter with her when she had had two nestlings suckling on her.

His mother nodded with a heavy sigh, "One of them, yes."

Mulberry regretted his words instantly, it hadn't even crossed his mind that the other one could have died. He looked away from her. "I'm sorry," he said.

She was silent for a minute, then said in a low voice so just he could hear. "This is harder than I expected. I don't think I can handle another nestling dying. Waking up, and finding it... finding it cold against my belly. With your sisters, I had to watch it happen. They were so new, so young. They would nurse but their bellies never swelled up with milk. Their noses bubbled, I remember that... I remember licking them and shaking, and nudging them closer to me. I remember their squeals, they got so hungry so fast. They... they just..." She trailed off, she was crying now, but her words still came softly. Mulberry wanted to stop her more than anything, but he could tell this was something she needed to tell someone. "One by one, their bodies grew still. I tried to bring them back, but they, they... Oh, Mulberry, I pray you never have to see a creature die in front of you. When there's nothing you can do but love it with every part of you, and curse yourself for not knowing how to save it."

Mulberry's heart was heavy, he had had sisters. There were so many things he wanted to know, and also didn't want to know. He looked to the scrap of fur hed grown to care so much for and watched him playing so freely. "Is he going to die?" Mulberry asked. He knew it was the worst thing he possibly could have said to her at that moment, but before anything else, River was his mother, and he was terrified.

She knew this, with the way only mothers can sense what their meetings need, and she stifled her tears to nuzzle her half-grown nestling. "He's strong," she said encouragingly. She looked deep into his eyes, "We have to belive, we have to do everything we can for him."

Mulberry looked into his mother's eyes, so full of pain and depth he had never seen before. "And we have to love him because no one else ever will."

* * *

Mulberry said his farewells and left the nurse mices den with a heavy heart. He spoke as little as possible to Umber while they waited to head back to the Stump. Flick was preoccupied talking with Rose, who Mulberry noticed seemed to keep walking off. For once, Mulberry had been grateful for the silent walk back with his mentor. He had a lot to think about, and a lot of emotions to sort through. He envied his brother for being able to be happy, to be clueless, to be able to chase she-mice and train and go on with life in such a carefree way.

When the group got back to the stump Mulberry went to bed without food, he had no appetite. He lay in his nest with his head on his paws watching the other shadows gather by the pile of berries and grubs and seeds to talk about their days of training and gossip about something or another.

Umber sat with Flick and his usual group of mice. Aside from Mulberry, Umber didn't seem to have any other close friends. But Flick had called him over, and Mulberry was grateful for that. He didn't want his night to effect his friend too. He caught them looking over at him with concern once, and he rolled over. He could feel their eyes still, burning into his back, and he wondered what they were saying about him.

Mulberry watched the light fade from the stump by the dimming of the wood in front of his nose, the way it faded from yellow to a dark grey-brown. "Hey," a voice came from behind him, but he didn't turn to see who it was, "are you okay?"

Spotted front paws ruffled through Mulberry's fur and a familiar scent hit him. "I'm fine, Flick," Mulberry mumbled.

"What happened back there?" Flick pressed.

Mulberry sighed and rolled onto his back, pushing Flick's paws off his side. His brother sat beside him and looked down at him with concern. He knew he couldn't tell his brother what their mother had said, there was no reason to burden him too. He sighed and settled with a half-truth. "When I wasn't training, when I was helping Juniper, the healer mouse, there was a nestling there. I got close to him I guess, and he's sick, or rather there's something wrong with him that no one understands. I'm just worried about him is all."

Flick frowned. Mulberry knew what he was thinking, why does he care about some random nestling? He couldn't explain it, he just did. So he didn't try to explain it, and Flick didn't press it. Instead, he curled up next to him and began licking him between the ears, as their mother had done for them when they were nestlings. Mulberry felt his eyelids grow heavy. He rolled over onto his side and felt his brother shuffle up close against him and rest his head on his back. The two barely fit in the small nest together, but Mulberry couldn't have been more grateful for his brother's warmth and his comforting scent.

Flick fell asleep first, Mulberry could feel his breaths grow heavy. Mulberry yawned and blinked sleepily, then closed his eyes and gave in to the warmth and comfort that pooled around him, falling asleep with the scents of his birth den and memories of his pup-hood dancing in his mind.


	14. Chapter 13

**It's been a few days I know, sorry for the slow posting. I've been discouraged lately, my last few chapters have gotten a lot fewer views and comments. I know I shouldn't allow myself to get wrapped up in that, but it gets to me more than it should. If there's ever anything you guys aren't liking or you find it's hit a lull and you want more action or more romance or anything like that, I would love to hear your feedback so I can keep it interesting and keep it something that you'll all continue to enjoy!**

 **On that note, if I do go poof for a while please don't give up on me! I am getting married on Friday and then will be in Hawaii without a computer for almost two weeks. If I have downtime I'll still be writing on paper or my phone, so that I can edit and get some posts up when I get home. But ya, I may disappear for a bit. We have even more family coming into town tonight, so I'm not sure how busy I'll be or if I will get the chance to post again before we leave. But at least this chapter is another long one!**

 **ZeroThunder, thank you so much for reviewing, following, and favoriting my story! It was the motivation I needed to sit down and get to writing another chapter, so again thank you so much!**

 **Onto the story,**

* * *

Mulberry woke up feeling hot and uncomfortable. He rolled over, his brother was still sleeping soundly beside him, his side rising and falling softly. Mulberry carefully sidestepped out of the nest and shook out his fur. It was ungodly hot, even for the long sun season. His coat felt hot and heavy, and his side where he had been up against his brother was wet and sticky with sweat.

"Hey," came a soft voice approaching him. Mulberry stopped his grooming and looked up. It was the tan she-mouse, Fawn, and another mouse he had seen around but hadn't met before. He'd seen the two of them together a lot, and assumed they must be friends.

Mulberry nodded a greeting to the new mouse, she was pale grey with white on her muzzle and on the fluffy tufts of her ears. She didn't acknowledge him, she was looking down and studying her paws. Mulberry looked back to Fawn. "What's going on?" he asked, he didn't really know her and was wondering why she'd come to him.

Fawn wiggled her nose. "Ivy's mentor told her to take two other shadows out today to help her with her burrow." the little tan mouse said, "you're up, do you want to come with us?"

Mulberry cocked his head to the side a bit, "To help with her burrow?"

Fawn nodded, "All second seasons have to build a burrow before they can become foragers. Dew has been showing me how to also, but I still have a lot to learn."

The grey she-mouse lifted her head slightly to speak in a quiet voice to her friend, "You're just a first season, Fawn, I wasn't learning burrow building until I was moons older than you." The grey mouse, Ivy, turned her glance to Mulberry then. She had striking blue eyes, Mulberry found himself staring into them like glistening drops of dew that pooled and reflected his image back at him.

"What do you say?" It was Fawn's voice again, Mulberry snapped out of his stair to look to her and smile.

"Sure," he said, "why not?"

Mulberry left the she-mice to find his mentor, but Liken hadn't gotten to the stump yet. It was still very early, Mulberry figured he would show up soon, but he didn't want to wait around just to be told he couldn't go. He found Umber instead, mumbling nonsense to himself in his sleep. Mulberry nudged him awake.

"Umber," he said, "Hey, wake up."

Umber lifted his head sleepily, then groaned, "why is it SO hot."

Mulberry tried not to laugh, that had been his first thought when he had woken up to. "Sorry," Mulberry said, "you can go back to sleep, but can you tell Liken when he gets here that I've gone out with Fawn and Ivy to work on a burrow?"

Umber grumbled and rolled over, "How can I go back to sleep when it's so hot out?" he complained, squinting his eyes closed. Mulberry took that as a yes, and touched his nose to his friends head before trotting off to join the she-mice.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked as he joined them. The two she-mice looked at him with a blank stare, then to each other, then finally Fawn nodded and led the way. _If I thought Fawn was quiet,_ he thought to himself, _her friend is even quieter._

The three took turns pushing through the small entrance of the stump and out into the dawn-lit forest. Even though the sun was just beginning to rise, it was terribly hot out. Even hotter than it had been inside the stump. At least there was a bit of a breeze.

The three took turns scampering from one cover to another, darting through the shadows that the rising sun cast among the towering tree trunks, and by the time the sky had lost its colors and lit to a cloudless light blue they had reached their destination.

There was a cliff edge, where a towering rock wall jutted up from the earth as high as a fair-sized tree. Water trickled from the rock and pooled at the bottom, where a tiny stream trickled down the slightly sloped earth. Blackberry thickets grew in patches around the water, happily drinking it in on such a hot day. Just to the west of the stream, and against the stone wall, a tree had fallen and snapped into a few pieces. It must have been like that for a while, for moss was growing on the pile of wood creating almost the appearance of a little green hill, with tiny mushrooms sprouting here and there like trees.

Mulberry followed the she-mice and flattened his body down, scraping his way through an area that had been dug out under the fallen stump. He popped his head up into a hollowed-out section. It wasn't as dark as he had expected. He looked up to see where a portion of the bark had snapped, creating a long crevis through the roof of the burrow, covered with a thin layer of moss which let in cool green light, bright enough for Mulberry to easily see around him.

The burrow was a work in progress to be sure. He could see where Ivy had been gnawing at the wood to hollow it out more, as it was there was scarcely room for the three of them to move around. As Mulberry was looking around, he noticed Ivy was gone. Fawn flicked his shoulder with her tail, and Mulberry watched her push through a chewed out hole in the wall that Mulberry hadn't seen before.

The hole was a perfect size, and Mulberry found he fit through it easily. It opened up to a spot behind the fallen log where blackberry thickets had closed the gap between the stone wall and the log. It was a spacey area with good light and shelter from predators. "This is the perfect spot," Mulberry said aloud, more to himself than to the she-mice.

"I found it a moon ago," Ivy said. Mulberry was surprised, it was the first time she had spoken to him, she seemed so shy. "In the leaf fall season it won't be as covered here," she continued, but more to herself this time as if she were taking note of it, "but it will still be nice."

Mulberry watched as the grey she-mouse picked a berry, and then another. She offered one to Fawn, who took it and thanked her, then she turned her cool blue gaze to Mulberry. She held out a berry for him, and Mulberry took it gratefully, he hadn't eaten yet and his belly was growling. "Thank you," he said. She gave a half nod, then turned away again to pick another berry for herself.

The three sat in silence. The two she-mice sat together with flanks touching while Mulberry sat by himself, though still close by. When they finished their berries they groomed their faces briefly. Mulberry found himself, not for the first time, being grateful he didn't have light fur that stained so easily. Mulberry's fur almost matched the berry juice, and though it was still sticky it was at least less obvious to others.

"What can we do to help?" Fawn asked her friend when she'd finished cleaning her paws and face.

The grey she mouse nodded to the log, "I have to keep working on the inside."

 _Great,_ Mulberry thought to himself, _there's nothing I'd rather do on a hot day then be stuck in a small space with two other furry bodies, gnawing on dry wood._ But he didn't voice his complaint, he simply smiled and said he'd be happy to help and led the way back in.

* * *

At first, gnawing the dry dead tree was about as awful as Mulberry had imagined it would be. But as time went by Mulberry found he was thinking less about the gnawing and more about other things. Letting his mind wander helped, and the work went by much faster.

His thoughts drifted to his mother, as they often did, and to the nestling. He thought to himself what a fool he'd made of himself back in the great burrow, and then he thought that it really had been many times now that he had made a fool of himself since becoming a shadow. He frowned at that, then continued gnawing.

The green light in the burrow was beginning to fade, and Mulberry found his jaw was tired and one of his claws was bleeding from digging in places. He sat down to take a break and let out a heavy sigh. Noticing Mulberry had stopped, the she-mice took a break and sat down as well. Though they had been working all day, they hadn't made much progress. That being said, the three of them looked like a real mess. Dirt and pieces of dry wood stuck to their fur and Mulberry could smell blood on them too. He supposed torn nails and bleeding paw pads were just part of building a burrow.

"How long have you been doing this?" Mulberry asked Ivy, who's pelt was now more a dusty brown than grey. Her and Fawn looked a bit similar, actually.

The she-mouse shrugged, "The better half of the past moon."

Mulberry felt for her, if the three of them had made such little progress in a day, he could only imagine how long it would have taken her on her own to get to the point where it was.

"Do you usually come alone?" he asked.

The she-mouse looked down at her paws, and Mulberry could tell she was uncomfortable talking to him. She must have been the shyest mouse he'd ever met. She shrugged again.

Fawn, who was usually very quiet but seemed to have more confidence today, spoke for her. "I come out here with her a lot, at least lately. But usually it's just me and her, or some days when I'm training and she isn't she has to work on it alone."

"It'll be nice when it's done," Mulberry said, trying to sound as friendly and welcoming as possible.

Ivy looked up at that, and smiled a bashful smile, dragging her paw through the dusty sawdust and dirt that lined the floor. "Thanks," she said.

Mulberry smiled and nodded, then looked up to the mossy hollow in the roof of the log. The light was fading quickly. "Should we get going?" he asked the other two.

Ivy and Fawn exchanged glances, then nodded. Mulberry smiled, feeling a bit relieved to be heading back to the stump where he could carry real conversations with his friends. The awkward air of silence that had filled his day was starting to make his fur itch.

Ivy led the way, as she was the oldest and it was her burrow. She poked her head out, then a moment later her body followed, kicking dirt back at Mulberry and Fawn as she pushed her way out. Mulberry looked to Fawn, "Go ahead," he said with a smile.

The tan she-mouse left her gaze on him a long moment, her ears swiveling until Mulberry began to feel uncomfortable. He cleared his throat, and she looked down at work paws. Mulberry thought he might have heard her cus under her breath to herself. He frowned, confused.

"Um, thanks," she said after a moment.

Just as Mulberry was thinking to himself again how grateful he was to be leaving the small confined space, a squeal came from the space Ivy had just burrowed out of. A dirty white-grey head poked through the hole and in an instant the little mouse had shoved through, bowling Mulberry over in her haste, who had been standing in her way.

Mulberry shook his head to clear it, he was laying on his back with a weight on him. He opened his eyes dazed to see vivid blue saucers staring back at him, a little black nose just a hair away from his. It took Mulberry a moment to process it, but as he saw it Ivy had hastened her way back into her burrow, toppling into Mulberry, and now she was laying with all her weight on his chest. He groaned, his head hurt, he must have hit it hard when he'd been thrown back.

He blinked his eyes to clear them from dust, the strange she-mouse was still staring down at him with wide horrified eyes. "What..." he mumbled.

"Are you okay?" Fawn's voice came from beside them, and in the next moment, she was coaxing her friend off of him.

Mulberry rolled over, a fresh coat of sawdust clinging to his pelt. He ran a hand over his ears and face, clearing the dust from his whiskers and eyes. He could feel a bump forming on the back of his head. "What was all that about?" he asked, a bit irritable.

He looked up to see Ivy huddling with Fawn, her blue eyes still wide as a full moon. Fawn looked up from her to Mulberry with worry on her face, and he walked over to them cautiously. "I'm sorry," he said, "are you okay?"

The little grey mouse was trembling. Mulberry was glad that Fawn was there, he wasn't particularly sure how he would have comforted her.

"What happened Ivy?" Fawn asked, with what Mulberry thought was a very warm motherly tone, he looked at her soft face and felt something for a moment, though he wasn't sure what.

"I.. I saw.. " Ivy was stumbling terribly, and Mulberry felt annoyance creeping under his fur.

"I'll go check it out," Mulberry said, pacing away from the she-mice and to the hole that led out to the forest.

"No!" Ivy squealed, then in a quiet voice said again, "no... don't go out there."

Mulberry, still facing away from them, rolled his eyes. He was about to push his way out anyways and curse she-mice in general for being such foolish, quiet, cowards...

"I saw two eyes, in the bushes," Ivy spoke in a distant voice, Mulberry stopped in his steps and turned to face her. "They glowed, they were the color of tree sap." She shivered, and Fawn licked her left ear.

"It's okay," Fawn said, "was it an owl?" An Owl won't get us here. You're safe." She licked her other ear, trying to calm her friend down.

Ivy shook her head, "No," she said, "not an owl."

Fawn frowned, "what else could it be?" she asked.

Just then, a distant yowl echoed through the forest, turning Mulberry's blood to ice. More yowls echoed the first. The three mice froze, fear-scent filled the small burrow so thick Mulberry could have choked on it. He could hear his mother's voice echoing in his mind 'no such creature exists,' the voice said 'it's just a figment of your imagination.' But it wasn't just a dream anymore, it was real, and it had come to the forest.


End file.
